Outlook's resiliency logic, which was introduced with Outlook 2013, allows you to control the way slow add-ins are handled. It gives users option to disable add-ins that take more than 1 second to load, during Outlook launch.

 

In this post we will learn how to force Outlook to always load a specific add-in, by modifying Windows Registry settings.

Published by on under Office | Outlook

Every software app needs some updates to its user interface. Thus with the Windows 10 Settings app. Along with Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 17063, Microsoft changed the look & feel of the Settings app with Acrylic material effect.

 

If you are a Windows Insider, and in the Fast Ring, do not forget to checkout this build. It has bunch of changes and fixes for you to explore.

Published by on under Windows | Windows 10

End of July 2017, Microsoft published a list of features those are going to be deprecated in the future version of Windows 10. The classic 'Microsoft Paint' (mspaint), which was available in all versions of Windows, was also part of that deprecated list.

 

Along with 'Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 17306', Microsoft started giving an alert message saying that the product will soon be replaced by the 'Paint 3D' app.

Published by on under Windows | Windows 10

Outlook add-ins are built by third parties to integrate into Outlook to provide additional functionalities to it. There exists many addins which makes the life easier while working with mails and meetings. Some examples are: Outlook social connector, Skype meeting, TeamViewer meeting addins.

 

In this post, we will learn two different methods by which you will be able to see the list of addins installed on your Outlook client.

Published by on under Office | Outlook

After almost a month of wait, Windows team has released a new build 17063 to the insiders in the fast ring. If you are in the fast ring, you won't want to miss this build as it contains a large no. of new changes, improvements and fixes to Windows 10.

 

Check out this post to know more about the key changes part of this build. Don't forget to read the original release notes, known issues in this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

Most of the people in the current computing world use Microsoft Outlook as their default email client. There could be various occasions when you notice that, while launching Outlook it goes into 'Not Responding' mode.

 

What could be the reason behind this? How to resolve this issue? In this post, we are going to discuss on this topic today.

Published by on under Outlook | Outlook 2013

Microsoft announced a new Software Development Kit (SDK) to begin your journey with its latest technology 'Quantum Computing'. Quantum computing based on quantum mechanics which will help machines to solve complex problems much faster.

 

Along with this, Microsoft also released a new programming language called 'Q#' (Q-Sharp), which is fully integrated with Visual Studio 2017.

Published by on under News | Quantum Computing

Microsoft has released the next major version of Visual Studio 2017. This new build version 15.5 consists of many new improvements and fixes, that you would like to have. Check out this post to know what's new in this build and the top issues fixed in this build.

 

Don't forget to checkout the known issues and available workarounds in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.5, before upgrading to this build.

Published by on under News | Visual Studio 2017

Just like Windows 10, there also exists an Insider Program for Office 365 subscribers to get early access to the new features and improvements, which will eventually come to the next public release build of the product. This program is available as "Insider Fast" and "Insider Slow" rings.

 

In this quick tip, we will learn how to change the Office Insider release branch using a Registry hack. Continue to read further on it.

Published by on under Office | Office 365

Microsoft announced a new insider preview build 17046 to the Windows Insiders in the fast ring, as well as to the insiders who opted in to Skip Ahead. This build contains a numerous changes which are going to be available in the next major upgrade.

 

Check this post to know what are the new enhancements part of this build. You don't want to miss getting your hands dirty with this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

You must be aware that, Microsoft and the professional social-networking site LinkedIn launched the LinkedIn-powered "Resume Assistant" in Microsoft Word. This collaboration makes the task of writing resumes that project one's skills and expertise to be easily noticeable by hiring managers.

 

In this post, we will learn a little more about 'Resume Assistant' and how it will help you to get higher prospect of getting an offer.

Published by on under Career | LinkedIn

Most people enjoy videos on the various digital devices, such as: tablets, smart phones, and PCs. And most people have more than just one digital device. What if you want to watch a self made video and it turns out that the devices you have don't support the video format?

 

Besides, What can you do if you'd like to decrease the video file size when you want to play it on a smart phone or tablet?

Published by on under GiveawayContest | Product Review

Good new for Windows Insiders! Microsoft released a new build (Windows 10 Preview Build: 17035) for the insiders in the fast ring as well as to the insiders who opted in to Skip Ahead. But, due to a bug, PCs with AMD processors won't get this build.

 

If you are running an insider build, check for updates to get the new build, as it contains many new improvements. Don't forget to see the release notes and known issues.

Published by on under News | Windows

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update brought a most wanted feature on OneDrive, called "Files on Demand". Once you enable the feature, you can now access all your files in the cloud without having to download them and eating the extra storage space on your device.

 

In case, you are not able to find this feature after upgrading to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, here's how to enable it.

Published by on under OneDrive | Win10Tips

If you are using Windows 10, it allows you to enable the update delivery optimization, which helps the system to download the Windows updates and apps from internet as well as PCs within the local network. When enabled, it also uploads update from your PC to internet.

 

Along with Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you can control the bandwidth that you want to use for Windows update download and upload. Let's learn how to do this.

Published by on under Windows | Windows 10

Microsoft, today announced the availability of new insiders preview build. If you are a Windows Insider, and in the fast ring, check for updates to grab the new build 17025. This build is going to deliver from the RS4 pre-release branch.

 

This build contains a no. of new changes, which, you may likely to experience now. Don't forget to check the known issues before installing this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is already here, and you might have already upgraded to this latest stable version of Windows 10. After upgrade, you may experience low disk space as the upgrade process keeps a backup of the previous version of Windows.

 

If you are on low disk space, you can forcefully remove the previous version of Windows by following the steps mentioned in this article.

Published by on under Win10Tips | Windows

Undoubtedly, DVD is gradually disappearing from home media. Increasing people prefer to watch movies, TV shows on streaming media. Furthermore, most PC manufactures are eliminating disc drives while developing the latest device.

 

So what if you have a big collection of DVDs but couldn't find an available device to play them on? Let us discuss about a software, that I came to know recently.

Published by on under Editorial | Product Review

With the release of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, on 17th October 2017, Microsoft also released the SDK for the developers to build and publish apps. It contains the latest headers, libraries, metadata and tools to build applications targeting Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

 

If you didn't yet grab that, download it now and start building new apps or updating your existing ones with the new features.

Published by on under SDK | WinDev

We all know that, the next major update of Windows 10, named 'Fall Creators Update', is already there. The update released worldwide on 17th October 2017, contains a set of new features like: Fluent design, Windows Mixed Reality, OneDrive placeholders and many more improvements and fixes.

 

By the time you might have already received the upgrade notification, but in case you didn't, here's some ways to grab the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

While Microsoft is preparing for the next big update, named 'Windows 10 Creators Update', to be available worldwide from 17th October, the Windows engineering team has already started pushing their next set of updates from the RedStone 4 (RS4) branch to the Windows Insiders.

 

Along with build 17017, for the fast ring insiders, Microsoft has started testing a new Startup settings page, easily accessible from the Windows 10 Settings app.

Published by on under Win10Tips | Windows

Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview build 17017 to the Windows Insiders who are on the Fast ring, and that also includes the insiders who opted in to Skip Ahead. If you are among them, check for updates to get the new bits installed on your system.

 

This is the first build, for the fast ring Windows Insiders, from the Redstone 4 (RS4) development branch. Checkout to know what's new in this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

Microsoft released a new update for Visual Studio 2017, increasing the version to 15.4. If you have already installed Visual Studio 2017, you will get the update notification under the notification icon. You can also check for updates inside the Extensions and Updates dialog.

 

Check out this blog post to know what has been newly added/updated in this build. It also lists the issues that has been fixed.

Published by on under News | Visual Studio 2017

Microsoft Edge browser, which was first introduced with Windows 10 operating system, has now been extended to be available on mobile devices running iOS and Android operating systems.

 

If you are an insider, running iOS and Android, you can now experience the features like Favorites, Reading List, New Tab Page and Reading View of Microsoft Edge browser on your phone.

Published by on under Android | iOS

Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality device often seems to be overlooked in discussions of VR, as it isn't really a consumer-facing device right now. It costs around $3000 for developer edition and $5000 for commercial edition.

 

In this post, we are going to discuss about the future of Microsoft HoloLens and its uses, as it is now a most interesting topic.

Published by on under GuestPost | HoloLens

In this computing world, we are familiar with PDF document formats, which opens in Acrobat Reader or any other compatible PDF Reader applications. In Windows 10, it is easy to create PDF files using the Microsoft Print to PDF printer drivers.

 

Though, this feature is available by default with the operating system, but in case it is not available, you can install the required driver by following the steps mentioned in this post.

Published by on under Tips | Windows

If you are a Windows Insider, and in the First Ring, you might have already received the new build notification. Microsoft has released a new build 16294. This build might not be available for everyone as it rolls out. So, you may get the update notification later.

 

Going a step ahead to release 'Windows 10 Fall Creators Update' on 17th October, Microsoft focuses on bug fixes in this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

Haven't used your PC for a while and forgot Windows 10 sign-in password? Change Windows password often but couldn't remember the last password used on your laptop? Need to assist someone else in resetting lost computer password?

 

Performing a clean install of Windows is never a good idea, especially if you have important softwares or files stored on your hard drive. In this tutorial we'll show you how to easily reset forgotten Windows 10 password with or without reset disk.

Published by on under Editorial | Sponsored

When you want certain constructors, methods or properties out of the debugger scope, you can use the DebuggerHidden attribute, part of the System.Diagnostics namespace. When a member has been marked as DebuggerHidden, breakpoints will not hit for that member.

 

If you are unaware of this attribute, let's go a step ahead to learn about this attribute and how it works. Continue reading to know more.

Published by on under Tips | Visual Studio 2013

Due to improper closing of Outlook data files, this happens many times when the mails in the 'Inbox' folder are inaccessible. Therefore you would not be able to read and reply important mails. Also, the default Outlook PST Repair Tool is unable to fix that issue! Now what to do?

 

Most people will panic in such a situation, but the ideal deal is to move forward and install the Phoenix Outlook PST Repair Tool from Stellar.

Published by on under Office | Outlook

Lightweight solution loading is a new concept in Visual Studio 2017, when enabled, Visual Studio loads a small subset of the projects instead of loading all the projects available in a large solution. Thus, it loads solutions twice faster.

 

You need to manually enable/disable this feature. But in version 15.3 and above, you can ask Visual Studio to decide whether to enable it or not. Let's discuss the steps.

Published by on under Tips | Visual Studio 2017

Are you waiting for the next major update of Windows 10? Then the wait is near to end. Microsoft has announced that the next big update will start rolling out on 17th October 2017, with so many new features to make you creative.

 

As a Windows Insiders in the fast ring, you might have already experienced the latest update. If not, then hold your breath for another few days!!!

Published by on under News | Windows

Looking to jump start a career in web development? Seeking help in recalling an HTML tag? Just here to check out what all the fuss about HTML is about? Well, if your answer to any of these questions is in the affirmative, then you’ve come to the right place.

Published by on under GuestPost | HTML

Losing important data files or folder can lead you to the most stressful and difficult situation. Imagine landing in such a scenario, where you have a presentation due in an hour and have lost the file. You had spent hours, the previous day, to make that particular presentation and now you are left with no time and energy to do the same.

 

Most people will panic in such a situation, but the ideal thing to do is to make a wise move and download free data recovery software to recover the lost file.

Published by on under Data Recovery | EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

After two weeks of delay, Microsoft started rolling out a fresh new build for Windows Insiders in the fast ring. Windows 10 Preview Build 16273 includes a set of new improvements and fixes, stepping ahead to release the Fall Creators Update in the coming month.

 

Checkout the blog post to know what has been changed in this build, to grab an idea of the improvements made in it.

Published by on under News | Windows

If you are a web developer and designing any website or a page, you may want to run it in multiple browsers to check cross-browser issues. Visual Studio provides an easy way to run the web application in all the selected browsers at a single shot.

 

In this quick tip, today, we are going to learn how to run the web application in multiple browsers from the Visual Studio IDE. Continue reading to know more about it.

Published by on under Tips | Visual Studio 2013

In every programming language, when you want to loop through a collection, you use the 'for' loop in maximum scenarios. When writing code in Visual Studio, you might be aware that, there exist a code snippet to write the for-loop structure.

 

But you might not noticed that, there exist another code snippet to generate a reverse for-loop. Let's see what it is and how it operates.

Published by on under .Net | Tips

Visual Studio 2017 version 15.3, has been released, along with .NET Core 2.0 and Visual Studio for Mac (version 7.1) operating system. Microsoft, in a blog post, announced the availability of both the products. Visual Studio 2017 version 15.3 contains many new improvements and fixes.

 

.NET Core 2.0 is the second major version of .NET Core and this release focuses on performance improvements and expanded set of APIs available via .NET Standard 2.0.

Published by on under .Net | .NET Core

If you are using BitBucket Git repositories for hosting and managing your code, Visual Studio 2015, Visual Studio 2017, and Visual Studio 2019 have the extension to easily manage your files, directly from the Team Explorer view of the IDE.

 

In this post, we are going to get you started with the extension and see the main features that the extension supports.

Published by on under Bitbucket | Git

If you are using COM components on your .NET code, you might be already aware of the Marshal.ReleaseComObject and Marshal.FinalReleaseComObject, which are used to release the managed reference to Runtime Callable Wrapper (RCW) of the COM object.

 

If both are used to release COM objects from memory, and you are unsure which one to use, then this post will help you to learn the differences between the calls.

Published by on under .Net | C#

.NET Framework 4.7.1 is the next version of the .NET Framework, which is going to ship with Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Microsoft, in a blog post, announced the availability of 'Early Access Preview Build' of .NET Framework 4.7.1.

 

It's now a feature complete build and running under testing phase. If you are a Windows Insider, you can start validating your applications running on the latest version.

Published by on under .Net | News

If you are using COM objects like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft PowerPoint, you may sometime notice that the COM instances are not releasing from the process list; even though you called Close(), Quit() on the application instance.

 

In case you faced the same issue, this post will guide you to find the Process ID (from the HWND) of that particular instance to take further action to release it.

Published by on under .Net | Excel

If you are using .NET Framework 2.0 or .NET Framework 3.5, and getting unexpected Runtime Error while repeatedly calling the System.Net.NetworkInformation.Ping.Send method from C# code, this is due to an issue which got resolved in .NET Framework 4.0 and above.

 

Today, we are going to discuss about the issue, the root cause and the workaround to resolve this issue targeting .NET Framework version older than 4.0.

Published by on under .Net | C#

It's often require to parse a string value to another data type, like integer, and there exists a confusion among the developers whether to use the Parse method or the TryParse method that the framework provides to us.

 

In this post, we will discuss the difference between each of those two methods and guide you to understand and pick the preferable one. Continue reading to know more.

Published by on under .Net | C#

Let's continue our 'Back to Basics' series. It's often an interview question to get an idea of the basic knowledge of a candidate. This is one of the simple question that an interviewer may ask during an interview and you should also know this while writing your code.

 

In this post, we are again going to discuss on the basics and this time we will learn the difference between null string and empty string.

Published by on under .Net | C#

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that, my book titled 'Mastering Visual Studio 2017' has been published today. It was a great journey, with months of efforts. Thanks to Packt Publisher for the opportunity to write for them. Sincere thanks to the editorial team and the reviewer.

 

By reading this book, you will learn not only what Visual Studio 2017 offers, but also what it takes to put it to work for your project.

Published by on under Book | Mastering Visual Studio 2017

Microsoft, today announced a new PC build 16251 for the Windows Insiders in the Fast Ring, from the RS3 (Redstone 3) development branch. And thus, moving towards one step forward to the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which is expected to release within few months.

 

Along with this new PC build, they have also announced a new build 15235 for mobile devices. In this post, we are going to list the new features that you can see in the new PC build.

Published by on under News | Windows

StringCollection class is a spcialized collection type present in .NET Framework class libraries. The name itself represents it as a collection of strings. It exposes common methods and properties to manage string collection.

 

If you do not know about this class, in this post we are going learn about it's properties, methods and learn how to use it.

Published by on under .Net | C#

In last few articles we have discussed about NPOI libraries for .NET. There could be some cases, while reading Excel files, you may get an exception with 'The supplied spreadsheet seems to be Excel 5.0/7.0 (BIFF5) format. POI only supports BIFF8 format' as message.

 

In this quick tip, we are going to discuss about this issue, the way to handle it and the way to read the same Excel workbook content.

Published by on under .Net | C#

In the last two articles, we have learned how to use the NPOI library to read Excel 2007 (.xlsx) and Excel 97-2003 (.xls) file format. We have also discussed more about the APIs and shared the code snippet for you to understand it easily.

 

In this article, we will learn how to read Excel 95 and older workbooks easily using the free Apache NPOI libraries in your C#/.NET applications.

Published by on under .Net | C#

In the last article, we have discussed about the NPOI library and then learned how to read Excel 2007 file formats using the free, open sourced NPOI library. I hope, the code snippet was clear and easy to understand.

 

In this article, we will learn how to read Excel 97-2003 workbooks easily using the free Apache NPOI libraries in your C#/.NET applications.

Published by on under .Net | C#

Windows 10 Insider Preview build 16241 is being rolled out to Windows Insiders in the fast ring. It includes a no. of new improvements to the Windows Shell. Apart from that, Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview build 15230, has been also released.

 

Check this post to know the latest improvements, fixes in this new PC build 16241. Don't forget to checkout the known issues before downloading this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

Recently, we have learned how to read Excel workbooks using the Microsoft Office COM APIs. As you may already know that the COM APIs are slow while performing operation, we will see another way to read the content which is faster.

 

In this article, we will learn how to read Excel 2007 workbooks using the Apache NPOI libraries which is available freely to use in your application.

Published by on under .Net | C#

Windows 10 Update delivery works better by creating a peer network to send/receive updates within LAN and/or internet. But till date, there was no control over it's upload/download bandwidth and thus, there was a need for it.

 

Though this feature is not yet announced in Release Notes, but a separate settings page has been seen in recent version of Insiders Preview build, which we are going to discuss in this post.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

After the last Windows Insiders Preview build 16232, which was released on 28th June, Microsoft came up with a new build 16237 for the insiders. If you are in the fast ring, enjoy your weekend exploring the new improvements part of it.

 

This new build mainly focuses improvements to Microsoft Edge, Windows Shell including the Action Center, Emoji Panel, handwriting panel and many more.

Published by on under News | Windows

Code lens is a feature, first introduced in Visual Studio 2013, which helps you to understand important aspects about your code without leaving your favorite editor. It tells us the code changes in a fantastic way, within the code editor.

 

In this small tips & tricks post on Visual Studio, we will learn how to change the font and color settings of Code Lens.

Published by on under Tips | Visual Studio 2013

If you are using Microsoft Word Automation or COM Components to read a MS Word document, you may notice the following error message for few word documents "Error 800A175D - Could Not Open Macro Storage".

 

This is caused by the user account, whose "user hive" is not loaded when Microsoft Word started. Continue reading to know more about the issue and solution.

Published by on under Microsoft Word | Office

Along with Windows 10 Insiders Preview build 16232, Microsoft to introduce a new feature called 'Controlled folder access' in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. This will make it easier for you to protect valuable data from malicious apps and threats.

 

In this post, we are going to preview this new feature that's going to introduce in Windows Defender in the next major build of Windows 10.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

A new Windows 10 PC build (16232) is now available to the fast ring insiders, along with Mobile Build 15228. This new PC build includes a no. of new security enhancements to Windows Defender, many other improvements and fixes.

 

Don't forget to read the 'Known Issues' first, before downloading as there is a possibility of update failure in this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

In a month of two, after the attack of 'WannaCry', a new Ransomware named 'Petya' started spreading across the world. It's a massive cyber attack that paralyzed firms, airports, banks and government departments that uses unpatched old Windows operating system.

 

Starting with Ukraine, it already spread many countries like UK, Spain and India. Check this post to know how to take precaution from such attacks.

Published by on under Petya | Ransomware

If you are using 'iTextSharp' library to read/write PDF files in your application and faced an InvalidCastException with the message "Unable to cast object of type 'iTextSharp.text.pdf.PdfLiteral' to type 'iTextSharp.text.pdf.PdfString'", this post will help you to know the root cause of the issue. Continue reading to learn more about it.

Published by on under iTextSharp | PDF

Microsoft has updated the Storage Sense UI, which is targeted to release with Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Along with insiders preview build 16266, it now allows you to easily delete the old version of Windows 10.

 

If you are a Windows Insider, and in the fast ring, you can now check this feature ahead of the general availability. Let's see it in action!

Published by on under Windows | Windows 10

Good news for Insiders! A new Windows 10 PC build (16266) is now available to the fast ring insiders, after the last build released two weeks ago. This build includes a no. of new changes and improvements, along with many fixes.

 

Don't forget to read the 'Known Issues' before downloading this build. Sharing here the key improvements, that you can see after installing it.

Published by on under News | Windows

Microsoft has started showing a red warning message "Your device is at risk because it's out of date and missing important security and quality updates" to the users, who have not updated their Windows 10 system for a while.

 

This warning message can be found in the Windows Update settings page. If you are one of them, read further to know more about it.

Published by on under Windows | Windows 10

In the last blog post on Windows 10 Hyper-V Manager, we have learnt 'How to create a Virtual Machine in Hyper-V on Windows 10'. As the virtual machine has been already created, we will now need to install an Operating System to it and for this, we will need to attach a DVD/ISO image.

 

In this article, we will learn how to create a SCSI Controller to add a DVD drive to it and then we will proceed to attach a DVD/ISO image to the virtual DVD drive.

Published by on under Hyper-V Manager | Windows

The latest build of Windows 10 Insiders Preview brought a set of new features and announcements. Among them, Microsoft Edge got a bunch of new changes that includes ability to add all open tabs to favorites from a single context menu.

 

In this short post, we will learn how to add all the open tabs to it's favorites list. Continue reading to know more.

Published by on under Microsoft Edge | Win10Tips

Yes, you heard it right! As announced in //BUILD/2017 event, OneDrive to get 'Files on Demand' feature in 'Windows 10 Fall Creators Update' expected to release this September. If you are a Windows Insider, "Good News", you can now experience it ahead of time.

 

In this blog post, we will see what has been changed and how to use the on demand files in new OneDrive application. You should be on latest Windows 10 insiders build.

Published by on under News | Win10Tips

Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 16215 is there for couple of days now and if you are a insider in the fast ring, you might have already explored the new features added to this new build. If you haven't done it already, don't miss this build.

 

Along with other improvements, Microsoft has added a new XAML based handwriting panel which contains more gestures, easier editing, emoji and more.

Published by on under News | Windows

Microsoft has recently released Windows 10 Preview Build 16215 for the Windows Insiders in the fast ring, having a bunch of new improvements targeted to release in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

 

This build gets a set of new additions to Cortana experience, called as 'Vision Intelligence'. In this post, we are going to learn more about the changes part of it.

Published by on under Win10Tips | Windows

Along with Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 16215, released to Fast ring Windows Insiders, Microsoft added many new features for Edge browser which will be available in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update later this year.

 

Before the features are ready for final release, let's discuss what's new improvements are being added to this insiders build.

Published by on under Microsoft Edge | Win10Tips

The wait is now over for Windows Insiders in the fast ring. It's been 3 weeks since the last build was released for PC users. Microsoft, in a blog post, announced the availability of the new build 16215 for fast ring PC users.

 

If you are an insider, there's a plenty of new features and fixes available for you to try this weekend. Don't forget to check the known issues.

Published by on under News | Windows

If you are running Windows 10 and your system has hardware support for Hyper-V, you can create an isolated storage to deploy your own Virtual Machine and use it. You can create one or more Virtual Machines and run them at the same time.

 

In this blog post, we are going to discuss in detail to known the process to create a Virtual Machine using the Hyper-V Manager on Windows 10.

Published by on under Hyper-V Manager | Windows

Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 has a quick and simple settings page to import favorites and other data from different browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer (IE). Based on the installed browsers list, it will provide you the option.

 

In this quick tip on Windows 10, we will learn how to import the information from other installed browsers. Do let me know, if this was helpful.

Published by on under Tips | Windows

This happens many time when the mail, that you are going to send, gets stuck in the Outbox folder of your favorite email client and provides you 'No Luck' to open/delete that email as it already started transmitting to the other side.

 

If you are one of such victim, here's a quick tip for you to easily stop transferring that mail, so that, you can open or delete it.

Published by on under Office | Outlook

You might have already heard about 'WannaCry' or 'WannaCrypt' ransomware which affected many outdated Windows system across the globe and demanded BitCoins worth $300 to decrypt the affected files. This was spread via a vulnerability on Windows system.

 

Though a fix was already given by Microsoft to safeguard the attack, but a tool to decrypt the affected PC has been recently published by security researchers.

Published by on under Ransomware | Security

If you are using 'Windows 10 Creators Update', you can now optionally block installation of any software on a PC, if it's not trusted by the Windows Store. Instead of a complete restriction, you can also warn the user.

 

If you are unaware of this new feature, let's go a step forward to learn how to configure your PC with this settings, provided that you are running Creators Update.

Published by on under Tips | Windows

Microsoft, today, released a new preview build for Windows Insiders running in fast ring PC. They have also released a new mobile preview build 15215. The PC build contains new changes to the My People app, improved game settings, system health status and many other fixes.

 

Before going to download the new preview build from Redstone 3 development branch, don't forget to checkout the 'Known Issues'.

Published by on under News | Windows

SCANPST.EXE is a Inbox Repair Tool for Microsoft Outlook to diagnose and repair errors in Outlook data file. If your Microsoft Outlook Data File (.pst and .ost) won’t open or if you suspect the file has been corrupted, use this tool to repair the file.

 

In this blog post, we will discuss how to repair the data files associated in your Microsoft Outlook client. Continue reading to learn about it.

Published by on under Office | Office 2013

In last few days, you might have heard about 'WannaCry' or 'WannaCrypt' ransomware which spread affected many systems across the globe. This was spread like a worm by using the Windows SMB vulnerability, which was patched in March.

 

You might become a victim, if you are not running Windows 10 and not yet patched your system with all the security updates that Microsoft released.

Published by on under Ransomware | Security

During //BUILD/2017 event, Microsoft announced the next wave of their innovations for Windows 10 ecosystem. They announced that the next feature update, which is now known as 'Redstone 3', will be called 'Windows 10 Fall Creators Update'.

 

It's expected to release in later this year, probably in September. Read further to know more about the new features which are expected to release with that.

Published by on under Windows | Windows 10

Microsoft has released a new update for Visual Studio 2017, which pushed the version to 15.2 with a build no: 26430.04. If you are using Visual Studio 2017, check for the update notification.

 

In this post, sharing the list of new improvements and fixes available in this build. Checkout the known issues before downloading.

Published by on under News | Visual Studio 2017

After the release of Windows 10 Redstone 3 build 16184 last week, Windows Insiders in the fast ring got their next preview build 16188 for PC today along with Mobile build 15210. This PC build includes a lot many new features and enhancements that you want to try.

 

Before going to download the new preview build from Redstone 3 development branch, don't forget to checkout the 'Known Issues'.

Published by on under News | Windows

When you try to open any office file documents created with an earlier version of Office applications like Word 95, Word 6.0 or Word 2, the file will open in 'Protected View' by default and the editing functions will be disabled.

 

Though it is not recommended, but if you face such issue and still want to open the document for editing, you can follow the steps mentioned here.

Published by on under Office | Office 2013

Microsoft has announced a new insider preview build 16184 for PCs in the fast ring Windows Insiders. It contains a couple of new features, which people are waiting for a long time. Apart from the new features, a set of improvements and fixes are also available in this build.

 

Check out this post to know what's new in this build, what has been changed and fixed. Don't forget to read the known issues before downloading it.

Published by on under News | Windows

Microsoft is now rolling out Windows 10 Cumulative Update (KB4016240) for the devices running Windows 10 Creators Update. If you are running version 1703, check for updates. If you installed earlier updates, only the new fixes will get downloaded.

 

This is a non-security update and includes quality improvements and no new features are being introduced. Checkout to know the improvements and fixes part of this update.

Published by on under News | Windows

Microsoft officially announced that, the next major feature update (code named: 'Redstone 3') will be targeted for release in the month of September 2017. They have also announced that the company will release two major feature upgrades of Windows 10 every year.

 

To know more about the release plan of the next major feature upgrades of Windows 10, continue reading the post.

Published by on under News | Windows

Windows 10 Creators Update can allow you to configure the system to automatically free up space by getting rid of files that you don't need. These are the files that resides in the temporary folder and in your recycle bin.

 

In this blog post, we are going to see how to configure your system to automatically free up those files. Continue reading more to learn it.

Published by on under Tips | Windows

Corporates some time needs to disable/hide few settings pages to block the users from changing the system settings. Windows 10 Creators Update provides the system admins to show/hide specific settings pages by tuning them in the Windows Group Policy Settings.

 

In this post, we will learn how to control the visibility of the pages. Before proceeding, make sure that you are an admin user.

Published by on under Tips | Windows

Along with the announcement of 'Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16176', Microsoft officially announced that only a set of few Windows 10 Mobile devices will get the Creators Update and future insiders build.

 

If you are already in latest insider preview build on old devices, you won't get the feature update but will receive cumulative updates.

Published by on under News | Windows

The light we generally see is a combination of different colors and among which the blue light has the maximum energy that can put more strain to eyes while working on a computer for long during the night. With the 'Windows 10 Creators Update', you can now control it.

 

In this blog post, we are going to see how we can configure it to lower the emission of blue light and ask Windows to show warmer colors to make it easier to sleep at night.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Windows Insiders in the fast ring on PC gets their first Windows 10 Preview build 16170 from the Redstone 3 branch. Dona Sarkar, in her blog post, announced the availability of build 16170 for the Windows Insiders.

 

Though there are no new major changes in this build, but has some one core related changes and refactoring done for restructuring for the next branch work.

Published by on under News | Windows

Microsoft opened up the door of Windows Store for the developers who are willing to target their UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps for Windows 10 Creators Update. They have now officially released the RTM version of the SDK Tools.

 

In order to use the latest UWP APIs of the SDK, you must upgrade your system to Windows 10 Creators Update (version 1703) and use Visual Studio 2017 (version 15.1).

Published by on under News | SDK

You would like to build an application/addin that reads outlook mail and notify the user or would like to do some other operations based on your business need. For this, you will need to use the Microsoft Outlook APIs.

 

Today we are going to see, how this can be done using the Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.dll to read the email from Outlook context and extract the data.

Published by on under .Net | C#

While working with Microsoft Office Interoperability, you may face the following exception that states: "COMException (0x80080005): Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID failed due to the following error: 80080005".

 

This issue happens when Outlook is already running and you are trying to access it's mailbox from Visual Studio environment. Let's discuss more about the issue.

Published by on under Office | Outlook

Microsoft today officially announced that Windows 10 Creators Update will start rolling out on 11th April 2017. As we already know, it will come as a 'Free Upgrade' to all the customers who are currently running Windows 10 on their system.

 

The new upgrade will come with lots of new features and enhancements. If you are a Windows Insider, you might have already experienced the same.

Published by on under News | Windows

Windows 10 Creators Update allows you to set custom colors to its background as well as its accent color. You can now modify it based on your mood, instead of just depending on the default color sets that comes with Windows 10.

 

In this post, we will discuss how to access the custom colors and assign them to Windows background and accent color.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Microsoft has released a new insiders preview build for fast ring PC and mobile users, after releasing couple of PC builds last week. If you are a Windows Insider in the fast ring, check for updates.

 

Build 15063 contains no new features other than improvements and fixes. Check the release notes and known issues before installing it.

Published by on under News | Windows

As the big giant is planning to wave out the Windows 10 Creators Update in April 2017, most of the people are excited to get the updates as soon as it is available. But there are some people or corporates who does not want to install the update immediately.

 

This post details about how to delay installing the Creators Update at the beginning and temporarily push it to future for couple of months.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Microsoft is preparing for the next big update for Windows 10, that's the Creators Update from the Redstone 2 branch. If you are running Windows 10, you might have already started receiving the promotional message on your Windows Update page.

 

This message appears on the Windows Update page for the users who are running the latest version of the Windows 10 anniversary update.

Published by on under News | Windows

There could be various reasons when you would like to amend your last commit. One of them is improper commit message and/or wrong committer information. In any of the case, you may like to change the previous commit.

 

In this small post, we will learn how to amend your last Git commit message as well as the committer information (username and email). Continue reading to know more.

Published by on under Git | Git Basics

Microsoft has recently released Visual Studio 2017 and you might be already started working in it. If you are using NuGet Package Manager Console, you may face an issue which prevents you to press the keyboard 'Enter' key.

 

If you faced this issue, which has been already logged, here is a workaround to resolve it for the time being while Microsoft is working on the fixes.

Published by on under Tips | Visual Studio 2017

Microsoft has started a new program to provide early access to the Visual Studio Preview to try out the latest features, bug fixes incorporated to Visual Studio 2017 and help to shape the future by making the IDE even better.

 

Visual Studio Preview has the most recent code pushed with new features, bug fixes and can run side-by-side with stable version of the IDE. Read more to know about it and get the preview installer.

Published by on under News | Visual Studio 2017

Going one more step towards the Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft released one more build for Windows Insiders in the fast ring. This build consists no new features other than the bug fixes. The build 15055 is available for both PC and Mobile devices.

 

A lot of issues have been fixed in this flight, also has few known issues. Before installing it, you should read them carefully.

Published by on under News | Windows

Along with Visual Studio 2017, Microsoft also released the .NET Core Tools 1.0, which are supported on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems to build cross-platform applications. Though it is part of the Visual Studio 2017 installer, but you can also download them separately.

 

In this post, sharing the links to download the .NET Core SDK and .NET Core Runtime for different environment for easy access.

Published by on under .Net | .NET Core

Microsoft released the final version of Visual Studio 2017 on 7th March 2017, which brought a set of new features and enhancements for the developers to build apps for any platform in any language. It comes in web installer only. No ISO/DVD images are available.

 

In case you need an offline installer, you can easily create that and customize it as per your need. Follow the steps mentioned below to create the installer.

Published by on under Tips | Visual Studio 2017

Microsoft released the final version of Visual Studio 2017 and is currently available for download. This release brings a new lightweight and modular installation experience, that you will really love. This also brings a lot of new features to accelerate your development productivity.

 

Find the links below to download the latest version of the Visual Studio 2017, an IDE which every developer must need.

Published by on under .Net | C#

Recently we learnt how to read Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel document contents (text only) using the interop APIs exposed by Microsoft. Now, what about reading the text content from PowerPoint slides? This can be achievable using another interop assembly file.

 

Today we will discuss how to extract the texts available in PPT files using 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.dll'. Code has been shared for your easy reference.

Published by on under .Net | C#

Along with Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15042 for PC, Microsoft also released a new build for Windows Mobile. They numbered it as: 15043. If you are in the fast ring, check for updates. Though there are no major changes in this build, but has a set of fixes to the issues reported earlier.

 

Checkout to read what has been fixed in this build. This build also contains few known issues. Read them before installing this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

A new insiders preview build has been aired by Microsoft. If you are running 64-bit version of Windows 10 in fast ring, check for Windows Update to get the new build 15042. Dona Sarkar in her blog post mentioned that, 32-bit version of Windows won't get this update due to a major bug.

 

As Microsoft is heading towards the final release, the build contains a bunch of changes, improvements and fixes. Read the known issues for PCs before installing this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

There could be some situation when you tagged your code in local Git repository and pushed it to remote and later you decided to delete the tag. This is simple to delete the tag reference from local, but how to perform the same in remote?

 

Today we are going to see the bash command(s) by which you will be able to remove the tag information from Git. Let's see, how!

Published by on under Git | Git Basics

Recently, we learned how to read text contents of Microsoft Word document from a .NET application using the APIs exposed in 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.dll'. There may be a business requirement to read contents of Excel sheets too.

 

Today we are going to learn how to read Microsoft Excel documents. The complete source code has been shared for your easy reference.

Published by on under .Net | C#

Visual Studio 2017 is going to be release on 7th March 2017. Twenty years ago, on 28th January 1997, the first version of Visual Studio was launched. Over the years, it grew rapidly and became a first choice for the developers.

 

Microsoft in a blog post announced the release date, along with the 'Launch Event' (starting 8:00 AM PST on 7th March) to share the latest innovations from Visual Studio, .NET, Xamarin and Azure.

Published by on under News | Visual Studio 2017

Microsoft announced the availability of Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15031 for PCs. If you are a Windows Insiders in the fast ring, check for Windows Update to get the notification. It's one steps towards the release of Windows 10 Creators Update and contains few new features, bug fixes.

 

Before downloading the build, don't forget to check the fixes and most importantly the known issues currently available in this build.

Published by on under News | Windows

There could be some possible business needs for your .NET application to read the text contents from a Microsoft Word document. This can be simply done using the APIs exposed in the dll named 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.dll'.

 

Let's have a quick look on how to do it using C#/.NET. Also find the complete source code shared here for your easy reference.

Published by on under .Net | CSharp

Microsoft released Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 15019 for PCs. If you are an insider in the fast ring, check for updates to see the new update notification. It is a successor to build 15014, released last week. The new build focuses more on ‘Gaming Features’ which is going to come in Creators Update.

 

Checkout the new/enhanced features along with the known issues before installing this build. If you are not comfortable to install, give it a pause.

Published by on under News | Windows

There are several instances when we need to make a comma separated text values from an excel column. There are different but pretty lengthy process that you can find, which will eat a no. of your valuable time to process the same.

 

So, what to do? Today we are going to learn a quick and easiest way to copy a column of data to a comma separated list. Continue reading to know more.

Published by on under Excel | Microsoft 365

System Security is always a concern of PC users. Windows 10 provides you in-built protection from viruses and malware threats. In general, if you are using latest Windows 10 updates, you don't need to spend on another antivirus program for normal home usages.

 

Along with Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft is going one more step ahead to secure your PC further with a comprehensive dashboard 'Windows Defender Security Center'.

Published by on under News | Windows

Microsoft announced a new preview build 15014 for fast ring Windows Insiders. This build has a ton of fixes and few enhancements for both PCs and Mobile devices. In a blog post today, Dona Sarkar, also announced the delay in releasing the 'My People' experience in Creators Update.

 

In this post, know about the key features/improvements that's part of this build. Also, checkout the other improvements and fixes, known issues etc. before installing it.

Published by on under News | Windows

The Windows 10 Creators Update is going to bring a new feature to control the 'Blue Light' emission from your screen. This is going to help the people who use computers for a long time, especially during the night time.

 

In this post, we are going to learn how to change the Windows 10 settings to control the blue light of your screen in order to reduce the strain on your eyes.

Published by on under Win10Tips | Windows

Along with Windows 10 Insiders Preview build 15002, Microsoft added a new feature for Windows 10 Creators Update, that will allow you to group your start screen tiles to a folder. Tile folders are a way for you to organize and personal your tiles in Start.

 

In this post we will see how to group the tiles to a folder and access them. Continue reading my other posts on Windows 10 Creators Update to see what’s coming next.

Published by on under Win10Tips | Windows

It happened some time when a forced device driver update caused serious problems to Windows installation. This may happen when your device doesn’t support the driver updates that has been pushed and thus no simple way to block them.

 

With the Windows 10 creators update, Microsoft will allow you to include/exclude the driver updates during Windows update. Continue reading to know more.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

As we are going towards the release date of Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft started pushing more builds with no. of new features and enhancements. Earlier this week, they released build 15002 for PC; accompanied by build 15007 for PC and Mobile.

 

Though the said two builds were released for fast ring insiders, instead of pushing it to slow ring Microsoft now published the ISO image for build 15002.

Published by on under News | Windows

Just after 3 days of announcement of Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 15002 for PCs, Microsoft announced one more build for fast ring users. The new build is numbered as 15007 and targeted for both PCs and Mobile devices. The new build has no. of new features/enhancements.

 

Before downloading the new build, check out the features list as well as the known issues currently available in this build. Continue reading to know further.

Published by on under News | Win10Tips

You may already know that, Microsoft has aired the Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 15002 for PC. If you are a Windows Insider in the fast ring, you may have already received the first update of year 2017. This build has a number of new features and improvements.

 

Among all these, Microsoft had added option to temporarily pause Windows 10 update. In this blog post, we are going to discuss on this topic and the way to pause/resume it.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Recently in a blog post, we discussed, how to detect whether an assembly is digitally signed using the C# programming language and System.Management.Automation.dll from Microsoft. That was one way to get the status of the digital signing.

 

Today we will learn another method to detect the same without using any additional dll references in our project. I hope that, it will much more interesting to learn.

Published by on under .Net | C#

Dona Sarkar, the chief of Windows Insiders, in a blog post announced the availability of Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15002 for PC with a bunch of new features and enhancements. It's a step towards releasing the 'Windows 10 Creative Update' in the month of April.

 

If you are a Windows Insider in the fast ring PC build, checkout this big update to experience it before the final public release. Make sure to checkout the bugs list before installing.

Published by on under News | Windows

Digital signatures are the public-key primitives of message authentication. In common words, hand written signatures are defined to put authenticity of a file. In digital word, it’s the digital signature binds a person/entity to the digital data.

 

In this blog post, we will learn how to detect whether an assembly (.dll or .exe) is digitally signed. We will use .NET/C# to identify the same. Continue reading to know more on this topic.

Published by on under .Net | C#