WEBVTT 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 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:10.380 basically since its Inception and at this point so little fundamentally 00:00:07.859 --> 00:00:14.820 changes that both of my grandmas know what the start button does but what's 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:19.140 this and what are these how did I do that buckle up dear viewer because we 00:00:17.220 --> 00:00:23.220 are about to get our hands dirty with some lesser known features of Windows 00:00:21.060 --> 00:00:27.840 and once you've joined us you will become more powerful than I can possibly 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:33.059 imagine powerful like our sponsor War Thunder War Thunder 00:00:31.019 --> 00:00:37.260 is the free to play online vehicle combat game the one with over 2 000 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:40.800 different Vehicles surely there's something for everyone to Pilot check 00:00:38.940 --> 00:00:44.420 out the link below to learn more and get some extra items after signing up 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 00:00:57.480 --> 00:01:04.559 Group Policy editor sounds very boring but it allows you to tweak some very 00:01:02.460 --> 00:01:08.040 interesting settings under the hood like have you ever wanted to hide certain 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:11.460 settings so you're less tech savvy relatives Don't Mess them up or how 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:16.140 about turning off some of Windows's phone home features there are a 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:20.159 seriously massive number of dials and knobs that you can adjust in here to 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:25.200 customize Windows and if you've ever used a locked down library or work PC I 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:29.580 assure you that it's at least partially thanks to group policies the issue 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:33.659 though is that by default it doesn't come with home editions of Windows a 00:01:32.100 --> 00:01:37.500 shining example of an artificial limitation and it is exactly the sort of 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:41.340 thing that Microsoft has been criticized for in the past not to worry though 00:01:39.180 --> 00:01:45.840 because you can force it by opening a command prompt as administrator and 00:01:43.380 --> 00:01:49.979 using these commands it'll take about 30 seconds and once it's done even home 00:01:48.060 --> 00:01:54.420 users can enjoy Fuller control over their PC I mean yes you you could make 00:01:52.619 --> 00:01:59.280 these adjustments yourself if you like to role play as a registry hacker man 00:01:56.460 --> 00:02:02.820 but this way is far easier and in my opinion more of a middle finger to 00:02:00.600 --> 00:02:07.500 Microsoft anyway for a two-handed bird if that method doesn't work for you you 00:02:04.860 --> 00:02:11.340 can grab policy Plus instead it's not built into Windows it's not for 00:02:09.179 --> 00:02:15.540 Microsoft but it's open source and offers the same functionality with a 00:02:13.020 --> 00:02:20.160 similar interface speaking of have you ever had an app that runs on Startup but 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:25.379 has to use admin privileges so it asks you every single time you boot your PC 00:02:22.440 --> 00:02:29.160 enter task scheduler you can create a basic task that starts up the app when 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:33.060 you log in then check this box before clicking finish and you see that run 00:02:31.200 --> 00:02:37.020 with highest privileges button check that you should go to the settings tab 00:02:34.980 --> 00:02:40.080 and make sure to uncheck this box to make sure it doesn't stop running after 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 00:02:42.720 --> 00:02:48.959 are all kinds of knobs and dials in here to make stuff run automatically exactly 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 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 00:02:55.379 --> 00:03:01.140 got multiple things you want to run with the same rules just add more actions 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 00:03:03.420 --> 00:03:09.239 a new trigger this is seriously underrated stuff I used to use it to 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:12.840 crank up my speaker volume then play music as an alarm for school when my 00:03:10.980 --> 00:03:16.560 clock was broken there are also some app Suites that you can download to further 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:20.159 enhance your Windows Experience if you've heard of those ones before you 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 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:28.440 but those are super cool and we are going to talk about those first power 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:32.220 toys are Microsoft's own in-house extensions to Windows and they've been 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:37.680 around in some form or another since the Windows 95 days if you were around back 00:03:34.980 --> 00:03:41.640 then and remember using tweak UI a tool to change the responsiveness of the 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:45.060 start menu that was a power toy some of the power toys released over time have 00:03:43.379 --> 00:03:50.159 actually made their way into mainstream Windows as well virtual desktops window 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 00:03:52.799 --> 00:03:59.459 in that sense power toys can be seen as kind of a playground for Microsoft 00:03:56.640 --> 00:04:03.599 Engineers to trial future features today's power toys have a wide variety 00:04:01.799 --> 00:04:09.000 of functions with my favorites being fancy zones power toys run and keyboard 00:04:06.780 --> 00:04:14.459 manager fancy zones is basically essential for anyone with a large or 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:19.560 Ultra wide or otherwise non-traditional desktop layout because it makes it super 00:04:16.799 --> 00:04:24.240 easy to quickly snap Windows to specific portions of your screen it effectively 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:27.660 replaces the standard window manager and is just a step away from the tiling 00:04:26.280 --> 00:04:31.440 window managers that you'd find in the Linux world complete with dedicated 00:04:29.460 --> 00:04:35.160 keyboard controls for focusing Windows and the ability to control the sizes and 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:39.419 positions of your Windows there's nothing quite like it on any other 00:04:37.020 --> 00:04:43.500 operating system power toys run is one of those things you would expect to be 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 00:04:45.660 --> 00:04:53.820 basically Apple's Spotlight search and it is thankfully not the same as the 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:58.139 start menu search often the results will be substantially more accurate and 00:04:55.860 --> 00:05:03.000 useful like Spotlight you can make it do calculations unit conversions and much 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 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 00:05:08.699 --> 00:05:14.639 Mac and ALT space is already used in Windows for Window Control keyboard 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 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:24.360 macros but you don't want to use memory hungry third-party software this is for 00:05:21.660 --> 00:05:28.320 you you can map any key to any other key including combinations and what's even 00:05:26.820 --> 00:05:33.120 cooler is that you can map keyboard shortcuts on a per app basis it's not 00:05:31.259 --> 00:05:37.680 powerful enough to be able to record and play back long sequences of keystrokes 00:05:35.460 --> 00:05:42.240 but it's enough to handle a lot of common tasks enough about power toys 00:05:39.539 --> 00:05:46.259 though I promise to go deeper and I shall look how deep I'm going Microsoft 00:05:44.220 --> 00:05:50.460 has another group of utilities that are technically under their umbrella as well 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:54.600 called CIS internals which they acquired back in two thousand 6 when it was 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:59.940 called wind tunnels and run by Mark racinovich they're a lot like power toys 00:05:56.880 --> 00:06:01.440 but with more focused use cases often 00:05:59.940 --> 00:06:04.680 with the goal of getting under the operating system's Hood there's a 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:09.300 massive number of these that are being updated to this day but the most broadly 00:06:06.840 --> 00:06:14.160 useful in my opinion are Auto runs process Explorer and TCP view honorable 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:18.120 mention goes to Reg Jump by the way because it is such a useful tool to 00:06:16.139 --> 00:06:22.139 quickly open the registry Editor to a specific key just run it as 00:06:19.919 --> 00:06:25.680 administrator and paste in the path no navigating through the little tree now 00:06:23.880 --> 00:06:29.639 we've talked about Auto runs before and for good reason Auto runs gives you the 00:06:27.539 --> 00:06:34.380 ability to see virtually every startup item service and dll that is registered 00:06:32.280 --> 00:06:39.240 for use inside of Windows in the default view it hides Windows standard entries 00:06:36.479 --> 00:06:43.860 but still is probably going to be chock full of stuff that you probably won't 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:48.720 recognize the good news is that a lot of this is normal and entirely benign even 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:52.800 some of the things highlighted in red or completely empty it's still a super 00:06:50.880 --> 00:06:56.520 useful tool cool though especially for advanced users when they're trying to 00:06:54.539 --> 00:07:00.840 diagnose malware infections or misbehaving drivers the double-edged 00:06:58.860 --> 00:07:04.199 sword here is that its power makes it potentially dangerous for inexperienced 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 00:07:06.419 --> 00:07:12.900 inexperienced you can Simply Save the state of the system and send it over so 00:07:10.979 --> 00:07:17.280 a more experienced dies can open it up on another computer to analyze and 00:07:14.940 --> 00:07:22.020 modify via the analyze offline system function it is indispensable for 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:26.639 troubleshooting process Explorer is like task manager but on roids in fact you 00:07:24.900 --> 00:07:30.900 can even replace task manager with it you can see the performance history of a 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:35.880 given process see all the connections it has open see what the environment it was 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:40.020 launched with was and so much more if you're curious what files a program has 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 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 00:07:46.440 --> 00:07:52.680 dll function to get a complete listing clicking on the results brings you 00:07:50.340 --> 00:07:57.180 directly to that process and if you're not sure what process a window is 00:07:54.300 --> 00:08:00.720 attached to use the crosshairs icon bam there is so much utility in here 00:07:59.039 --> 00:08:04.680 including some that made it into the official task manager eventually like 00:08:02.819 --> 00:08:09.539 the search online function then there's TCP view this looks a lot like process 00:08:07.080 --> 00:08:13.139 Explorer but instead shows you all the network connections that your computer 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:16.740 is currently maintaining grouped by the process that's using them this can be a 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:20.940 little overwhelming to look at while it's constantly changing around so you 00:08:19.259 --> 00:08:24.660 can pause it to Leaf through it on your own time the remote address is the 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 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 00:08:31.440 --> 00:08:37.740 though and that doesn't indicate a security problem in itself so like most 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 00:08:40.260 --> 00:08:45.480 can be a godsend when it comes to troubleshooting who might be listening 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:49.860 back to some included features though you might be aware that Windows 11 added 00:08:47.880 --> 00:08:53.580 the ability to run Android apps if you watched our video testing it out but did 00:08:51.660 --> 00:08:59.040 you you know that you can also run full-blown Linux right on top of Windows 00:08:56.519 --> 00:09:03.540 Windows subsystem for Linux is available on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and 00:09:01.920 --> 00:09:09.360 does exactly what it says on the tin open a terminal as administrator type 00:09:05.760 --> 00:09:11.399 WSL space dash dash install and 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:14.940 following a reboot you're ready to rock if you're not feeling the default Ubuntu 00:09:13.560 --> 00:09:19.320 you can get a list of available Alternatives using this command then 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:23.399 install your choice with this one you're not limited to just one either so have 00:09:21.420 --> 00:09:27.899 fun experimenting you can even install and run desktop apps within them and 00:09:26.040 --> 00:09:32.160 they will appear right on your desktop WSL isn't just for experimentation 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:36.959 though did you know that file explorer can show Linux folders now too you can 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:42.899 even pass through Linux formatted drives and access them via your WSL distro this 00:09:40.680 --> 00:09:47.820 is super useful not only for dual booters but also for system admins who 00:09:45.300 --> 00:09:52.560 might run Windows desktops but manage Linux servers I mean sure you could spin 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:57.480 up a Linux install specifically for Disaster Recovery or you could just use 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 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 00:10:03.420 --> 00:10:10.920 the same thing in Windows even without WSL as of 2021 officially called Quake 00:10:08.880 --> 00:10:15.420 mode this will give you exactly what you're after with the key combo of your 00:10:12.779 --> 00:10:21.360 choice just open a terminal window go to settings then actions click add new then 00:10:18.660 --> 00:10:25.320 choose show hide quick window you will need to launch Windows terminal first 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 00:10:27.060 --> 00:10:32.399 automatically launch it at startup right then just set it to hide in the 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:35.700 notification area once it's minimized now you've got a terminal available to 00:10:34.140 --> 00:10:39.240 you whenever you need one and if you want more out of your terminal this one 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:43.140 isn't built into Windows but it is recommended by the official 00:10:40.620 --> 00:10:47.820 documentation you can get fancy extended functionality and custom prompts in the 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:52.320 terminal if you use oh my Posh it's available on the Microsoft store for 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 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 00:10:59.339 --> 00:11:05.760 as far as to set a background image in the profile settings seriously Anthony's 00:11:03.660 --> 00:11:09.060 a Linux user and still feels that this is one of the slickest terminal 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:13.320 interfaces out there while still remaining easy to use there's even a 00:11:11.220 --> 00:11:18.540 package manager now via winget which lets you install even desktop software 00:11:15.959 --> 00:11:23.760 directly from a terminal which means you can automate it and automate updating it 00:11:21.420 --> 00:11:28.380 seriously basically everything we searched for that has a freely available 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 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:36.959 can probably find it in chocolatey which you can also install through winget in 00:11:35.040 --> 00:11:42.120 that wild not only does Windows have a good terminal now it also has SSH 00:11:39.060 --> 00:11:44.339 support for remote access both as a 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 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:51.600 other SSH client it even supports port forwarding and file transfers the cherry 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 00:11:54.060 --> 00:12:00.779 some password managers like one password offer the ability to use what's known as 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:04.019 an SSH agent so that your keys are available without needing to copy them 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:07.260 to your PC when you try to connect you'll get a prompt to unlock your 00:12:05.579 --> 00:12:10.860 password manager and you're Off to the Races these the server function 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:16.320 meanwhile needs to be installed through the optional features just click view 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:18.480 features then search for SSH and openssh 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:22.560 server is right there install it and you're ready to go by going to this 00:12:20.100 --> 00:12:26.940 folder and editing the sshd underscore config file you can set up private keys 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:30.600 for better security port forwarding and more just like you would on Linux 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 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 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 00:12:42.300 --> 00:12:48.000 useful feature that was first introduced in Windows 8 and there's also that God 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:52.079 mode folder that makes the rounds from time to time although I don't personally 00:12:49.560 --> 00:12:56.760 think it's that useful it's basically all the options in control panel laid 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 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 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:10.079 application menu and the shutdown command the application menu is what you 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 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:17.639 move command in the likely case that 00:13:16.019 --> 00:13:21.959 something weird happens and a window ends up way outside of the visible 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 00:13:23.459 --> 00:13:30.240 interact with it just select it on the taskbar then use the keyboard shortcut 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 00:13:32.579 --> 00:13:41.100 then move your mouse that window is now attached to your cursor click to set it 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:42.959 down and breathe a sigh of relief maybe 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:46.980 it cozy up with a retro polar fleece from ltdstore.com hey you've earned it 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:51.060 then there's the shutdown command this one is very useful if you've ever found 00:13:48.959 --> 00:13:55.800 yourself with no video output whatsoever and the hotkey to reset the video driver 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 00:13:58.019 --> 00:14:05.700 function so the thing must be on you can still safely shut down and reboot hold 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:07.500 the Windows key and hit R then type this 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:12.420 command which is basically telling the PC to restart with no delay once you hit 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:16.320 enter assuming you typed it right it should do exactly that if not or if you 00:14:14.880 --> 00:14:20.279 think you made a typo just hit escape and repeat the process you can do more 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:25.139 with the shutdown command too like you can create a shortcut to reboot into 00:14:22.260 --> 00:14:29.160 your UEFI settings with this command and this command will reboot into advanced 00:14:27.060 --> 00:14:33.480 startup settings which is super useful if you need to do that without a display 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:37.320 or without having access to Windows's normal UI like say for example if you're 00:14:35.880 --> 00:14:40.860 rebooting a headless machine in another room or if there's a driver that's 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 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 00:14:46.380 --> 00:14:53.339 other computers using a command like this where the name or IP goes right 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:56.459 here there's a whole world of commands like shutdown that you might not know 00:14:54.720 --> 00:15:00.660 about it's worth checking out the learn article on Microsoft's website to see 00:14:58.380 --> 00:15:04.800 more if you're curious curious like you're curious about this message from 00:15:02.339 --> 00:15:08.820 our sponsor War Thunder if you're looking for a comprehensive vehicle 00:15:06.420 --> 00:15:13.680 combat game give War Thunder try it's free to play on PC PlayStation 4 00:15:10.680 --> 00:15:15.899 PlayStation 5 Xbox One and series X with 00:15:13.680 --> 00:15:19.980 crossplay with over 2 000 Vehicles including tanks planes helicopters and 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:24.480 ships there is something for everyone to Pilot and the vehicles are modeled down 00:15:22.199 --> 00:15:28.620 to individual components offering an immersive combat experience there are a 00:15:26.880 --> 00:15:32.279 hundred years 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to make Windows feel a 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 00:16:12.660 --> 00:16:17.600 that you can't or shouldn't tweak it to suit your needs