17 Computer Tips You'll WISH You Knew Sooner

Summary

The video script offers a wealth of computer tips aimed at enhancing user experience and efficiency. It begins with a clever trick to prioritize files in alphabetical lists by using special characters like exclamation marks. The script then delves into organizing files by date in the Windows download folder and introduces the expanded context menu accessible via shift-right-click. Additional tips include using online manuals instead of physical ones, preventing Windows from powering down USB devices, and utilizing the terminal app for administrative tasks. The script also covers extracting text from images, accessing the BIOS menu with a shortcut, and employing keyboard shortcuts for efficiency. It highlights the Quick Assist tool for remote computer assistance, emphasizes the importance of waiting before restarting devices, and discusses enabling long file paths in Windows. The video also touches on discovering hidden launch parameters in programs and increasing the log size for the Windows Event Viewer. Lastly, it suggests setting the User Account Control to the strictest level for added security. The script is sponsored by DeleteMe, a service that helps remove personal information from data brokers, and encourages viewers to subscribe for more informative content.

Takeaways

• 📌 Adding an exclamation mark to file names makes them appear at the top of alphabetical lists in Windows.
• 📁 In the Windows download folder, using 'Group By' and sorting by 'Date Modified' or 'Date Created' organizes files more effectively.
• ✅ Shift-right-clicking on items in Windows 10 or 11 brings up an expanded context menu with additional options.
• 🔒 DeleteMe is a data privacy service that helps remove personal information from data broker websites.
• 📚 Digitizing physical user manuals by saving them as PDFs on your computer simplifies access and searchability.
• 🔌 Disabling 'Allow Windows to turn off this device when it's not being used' in Device Manager can prevent issues with USB devices turning off unexpectedly.
• 💻 Using the Windows Terminal app allows for easier command-line operations and can be set to open in admin mode by default.
• 🖼️ Microsoft's Power Toys suite and the built-in snipping tool in Windows can extract text from images.
• 🛠️ Creating a shortcut with a specific command in Windows can restart your computer and boot directly into the BIOS menu.
• ⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts like 'Ctrl + Backspace' and 'Ctrl + Delete' delete entire words, while 'Alt + Escape' sends the active window to the back.
• 🔄 Turning off and waiting a minute before turning a device back on can help reset capacitors and inductors, potentially fixing issues.
• 📑 Increasing the log size in Windows Event Viewer can store more log data before it gets overwritten, which is useful for troubleshooting.
• 🛡️ Setting User Account Control to the strictest level adds an extra layer of security by prompting for confirmation whenever an administrator action is taken.

Q & A

How can adding an exclamation mark to the beginning of a file name affect its sorting in an alphabetical list?

Adding an exclamation mark to the beginning of a file name causes it to appear at the top of any alphabetical list due to the sorting mechanism treating special characters before letters.

What is the purpose of grouping files by 'Date Modified' or 'Date Created' in the Windows download folder?

Grouping files by 'Date Modified' or 'Date Created' helps users to easily locate and organize files based on when they were last altered or initially made, which can be particularly useful when managing multiple downloads.

How does the Windows Expanded Context Menu provide additional options compared to the standard context menu?

The Windows Expanded Context Menu, accessed by shift-right-clicking, can reveal extra options that are not visible in the standard context menu, depending on what is being clicked on, offering more functionality and customization.

What is the benefit of scanning physical product manuals into PDF format?

Scanning physical product manuals into PDF format allows for easier digital storage, searchability, and access, reducing the need for physical space and the hassle of searching through paper copies.

Why might Windows power down USB powered devices when they are idle, and how can this setting be managed?

Windows may power down USB powered devices to conserve energy when they are idle. This setting can be managed through the Device Manager by unchecking the 'Allow Windows to turn this off when it's not being used' option to prevent unwanted device powering down.

What is the advantage of using the 'Open in Terminal' option in Windows?

The 'Open in Terminal' option allows users to quickly open a terminal window with the directory path of the item they right-clicked on already set, saving time and effort compared to manually typing in the path.

How can Microsoft's Power Toys suite assist with extracting text from images?

The Power Toys suite includes a Text Extractor tool that can recognize and extract text from images, which can then be copied to the clipboard for easy use elsewhere.

What is the significance of knowing the BIOS key for a computer, and how can one streamline the process of accessing it?

The BIOS key allows users to access the computer's BIOS settings, which is crucial for system configuration and troubleshooting. A shortcut can be created in Windows to automatically restart the computer and go directly into the BIOS, bypassing the need to manually press the key at boot time.

What keyboard shortcuts are mentioned in the script for efficient text deletion and window management?

The script mentions 'Ctrl + Backspace' and 'Ctrl + Delete' for deleting entire words, and 'Alt + Escape' for sending a window to the back behind other open windows.

What is the Quick Assist tool in Windows and how does it facilitate remote computer assistance?

The Quick Assist tool in Windows allows one user to remotely connect to another's computer to provide or receive help. It uses a one-time code for secure and temporary access, offering a straightforward and potentially safer alternative to other remote desktop software.

Why is it recommended to wait for about 30 seconds to a minute before turning a device back on after shutting it down?

Waiting before turning a device back on allows for capacitors and inductors to fully discharge, potentially resetting memory chips holding information that could be causing issues, ensuring a more complete reset at the physical level.

How can one increase the maximum file path length in Windows beyond the default limit?

For Windows Pro, one can enable long paths through the Group Policy Editor. For Windows Home, a PowerShell command provided by Microsoft can be run as an administrator to increase the path length limit.

Outlines

00:00

📌 File Organization Tips

The paragraph introduces various computer tips, particularly for Windows, that can enhance user experience. It emphasizes the use of an exclamation mark to prioritize files in alphabetical listings and suggests using ASCII characters for further customization. It also touches on grouping files by date in the Windows download folder and the importance of distinguishing between 'Date Modified' and 'Date Created' for better file management.

05:04

🔄 Windows Context Menu and Data Privacy

This section discusses the Windows Expanded Context Menu accessible via shift-right-click and its additional options like 'Open PowerShell Window here'. It also mentions a registry edit for Windows 11 to revert to the old context menu style. Additionally, the paragraph promotes DeleteMe, a data privacy service that helps remove personal information from data broker websites, offering a promo code for viewers.

10:07

📚 Digitizing Manuals and Power Management

The speaker shares a personal tip about digitizing physical user manuals to save space and simplify access. They also discuss a common issue with Windows powering down USB devices set to idle and provide a solution in the form of a PowerShell script to prevent this behavior, which can be reset after major Windows updates.

15:12

🖥️ Terminal App and BIOS Access

The paragraph covers the convenience of the 'Open in Terminal' option in Windows and how to set the Terminal Preview app to open in admin mode by default. It also explains how to create a shortcut to directly access the BIOS menu upon computer restart, bypassing the need to press keys during boot-up.

20:12

🔍 Extracting Text from Images and Keyboard Shortcuts

The speaker introduces methods for extracting text from images using Microsoft's Power Toys suite and the built-in snipping tool in Windows. They also share keyboard shortcuts for deleting entire words and sending windows to the back, as well as a common method to zoom in programs by scrolling with the Ctrl key held down.

🛠️ Quick Assist and Power Cycling Devices

The Quick Assist tool in Windows is highlighted for easy remote connection to another computer. The paragraph also suggests waiting a minute before power cycling devices to ensure a complete reset, which can help resolve issues caused by residual energy in capacitors or inductors.

🔗 Long File Paths and Hidden Launch Parameters

The limitation of Windows' maximum file path length is discussed, along with methods to extend this limit using Group Policy Editor or a PowerShell command. The paragraph also explores finding hidden launch parameters in programs by using command prompts and suggests using '/help' or '/?' to reveal undocumented options.

📈 Event Viewer Log Size and User Account Control

The speaker recommends increasing the log size for the Windows Event Viewer log for more comprehensive error tracking. They also explain how to set the User Account Control to its strictest setting as an additional security measure, which prompts confirmation before running programs with admin privileges.

📝 Conclusion and Viewer Engagement

The video concludes with an invitation for viewers to share their computer tips, a thank you to the sponsor DeleteMe, and an encouragement to subscribe for more video content. The speaker also recommends another video about the most useless Windows folder for continued viewing.

Keywords

💡Computer Tips

Computer tips refer to advice or tricks that can help users improve their efficiency, customize their experience, or solve common problems with their computers. In the video, the host shares various computer tips, both specific to Windows and general, to enhance the viewer's interaction with their computer systems.

💡Windows

Windows is an operating system developed by Microsoft that runs on many personal computers, laptops, and tablets. The video focuses on providing tips and tricks for Windows users, covering aspects from file management to system settings, showcasing how to get the most out of this operating system.

💡File Organization

File organization pertains to the systematic arrangement and sorting of digital files for ease of access and use. The script mentions adding special characters to file names to prioritize their display in alphabetical lists, which is a technique to organize files more effectively.

💡ASCII Characters

ASCII characters are standard numeric codes used to represent text in computers and other devices that use text. The video discusses using ASCII characters like the exclamation mark and the at sign to manipulate the sorting order of files, demonstrating a deeper level of file organization.

💡Context Menu

A context menu in computing is a type of menu in graphical user interfaces that appears upon user interaction, such as a right-click. The video highlights the use of the context menu in Windows and the additional options available through a shift-right-click, which is a less commonly known feature.

💡PowerShell Script

A PowerShell script is a series of commands that can be executed in the PowerShell environment, which is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft. The video mentions a custom PowerShell script to manage the power settings of USB devices, showcasing how scripting can automate system tasks.

💡USB Power Management

USB power management refers to the ability of an operating system to control the power state of USB devices to conserve energy or manage device performance. The script discusses disabling a Windows setting that powers down USB devices when idle to prevent functional issues with certain devices.

💡Data Privacy

Data privacy is the practice of safeguarding information and controlling how it's collected and used. The video mentions a service called DeleteMe, which helps users remove their personal information from data broker websites, emphasizing the importance of taking control over one's own data.

💡Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are key combinations that perform specific functions, often more quickly than using the mouse. The video provides several shortcuts like 'Ctrl + Backspace' and 'Ctrl + Delete' for efficient text editing, and 'Alt + Escape' for managing window focus, demonstrating how they can improve productivity.

💡Event Viewer

Event Viewer is a component of Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides details about system, security, and application logs. The video suggests increasing the log size in Event Viewer for power users to retain more log data, which can be crucial for troubleshooting complex issues.

💡User Account Control (UAC)

User Account Control is a security feature of Windows that helps prevent unauthorized changes to the system by prompting users for confirmation or elevated permissions. The video advises setting UAC to its strictest setting for an added layer of security, illustrating how it can notify users about administrator-level actions.

Highlights

Adding an exclamation mark to file names can make them appear at the top of alphabetical lists.

Using different ASCII characters can customize the order of items in a list.

Grouping files by 'Date Modified' or 'Date Created' in the Windows download folder can help organize files better.

Shift-right-clicking on items in Windows can bring up an expanded context menu with additional options.

DeleteMe is a data privacy service that helps remove personal information from data broker websites.

Scanning physical manuals into PDFs and storing them digitally can declutter and provide easier access.

Disabling 'Allow Windows to turn this off when it's not being used' in Device Manager can prevent issues with USB devices.

Using the 'Open in Terminal' option simplifies the process of opening a command prompt in a specific directory.

Microsoft's Power Toys suite includes a Text Extractor tool for extracting text from images.

Creating a shortcut with a specific command can restart a computer and boot directly into the BIOS.

Keyboard shortcuts like 'Ctrl + Backspace' and 'Ctrl + Delete' can delete entire words quickly.

Using 'Alt + Escape' sends the active window to the back of all open windows.

Zooming in many programs can be achieved by pressing 'Ctrl' and scrolling up or down.

Quick Assist is a built-in Windows tool that allows for easy remote connection to another computer.

Waiting 30 seconds to a minute before turning a device back on can help reset capacitors and inductors, potentially fixing issues.

Enabling Windows long file paths can expand the maximum file path length from 260 characters to effectively unlimited.

Using command line to run programs can reveal hidden launch parameters that change program behavior.

Increasing the log size for Windows Event Viewer logs can help retain more data before logs are overwritten.

Setting User Account Control to the strictest level adds an extra layer of security by prompting for confirmation when running as an administrator.

Transcripts

I'm about to make your life a lot easier in ways  you didn't know were possible. I've got a bunch  

of different computer tips. A lot of them are  specific to Windows, just some tips and tricks,  

but a lot of them are also general computer tips  that you might not have realized were a thing. And  

I think for a lot of these, you probably have not  seen anyone mention them before, so they should be  

new for most of you. Starting off with number one,  this is one I use sometimes, and that is to add an  

exclamation mark to the front of file names or any  other item name in a program where you want it to  

show up at the top of any alphabetical list. So  for example, maybe you have a bunch of documents  

you want to list alphabetically in a folder,  but you want a couple of them to be at the top,  

kind of like favorites. What you can do is simply  add an exclamation mark to the front of it and it  

should show up first. And then you can use  different ASCII characters like the @ sign,  

a period, and a lot of times those will have  a specific order too, so you can customize it  

a little bit more. This is also useful in  programs that might not let you customize  

beyond alphabetical, but you want certain ones  to show up. For example, this is kind of random,  

but in the color management settings in Windows,  I have some custom color profiles, and the only  

way to sort these is alphabetically, and it shows  all the built-in ones along with the custom ones,  

but I always want to get to the custom ones, so I  put an exclamation mark in front of it, and then  

they're at least all grouped at the bottom. It's  in reverse alphabetical, but still, it makes it  

easier. Next up, number two is another tip that  I've used forever, and that is in the Windows  

download folder, if it's not already set like  this, right-click and hit Group By, and then Date  

Modified. Or you could also do Date Created, which  I'll explain in a second, and if that doesn't show  

up, you can go to More, and then find it in the  list and enable it. It's pretty easy to see what  

this does. It basically groups together files that  were downloaded today, or yesterday, or more than  

a few days ago. And this is useful to me because  a lot of times, you are only caring about the most  

recently downloaded files if you're downloading  something. But where it comes in handy is, say  

you're downloading a bunch of files all at once,  and you want to find one of them alphabetically,  

or just have it better organized, then you'll  still be able to sort them alphabetically,  

but again, they'll be grouped with only the most  recent ones together, and then the older ones will  

also be alphabetical, but separate. And then  the other property that might be useful is the  

Date Created, whether you sort by or group by, and  it's different from Date Modified because, well,  

it's the date the file was actually created on the  file system. And this is self-explanatory why this  

might be useful. A lot of times, you might need to  make maybe a tiny change to a file, and then that  

kind of jumps it to a whole different part of the  Date Modified list, which is usually what people  

use, but you do want to sort by when you actually  downloaded the file, or something like that. So  

just knowing about that, even if you just add it  as a column, is pretty useful. Alright next up,  

number three, we have the Windows Expanded  Context Menu. You probably know in Windows 10,  

if you right-click something, or in Windows  11, if you right-click and go to More Options,  

it brings up this style of context menu. But if  you shift-right-click something, whether in either  

Windows 10 or 11, it'll bring up an expanded  version of this context menu, and it'll show  

sometimes extra stuff, depending on what you're  clicking on. For example, if I shift-click on a  

folder, here's a few options that weren't there  before for "Open PowerShell Window here", "Open  

Linux Shell here", and "Open in New Process". For  files, it's going to depend on the file type. For  

example, on an EXE, you can see this extra option  here for "Run as Different User." So if you deal  

with a lot of a certain file type in Windows, it  might be worth it to try shift-right-clicking it,  

and seeing if there's any options that you might  find useful in the future, and then you can use  

it. Now, as a quick extra bonus tip, you can  actually, in Windows 11, make it so it always  

uses the old context menu. You can change it  via a registry edit. I'll actually put a link  

to a HowToGeek.com article. They explain it in a  lot more detail. They have like a registry file,  

you can just download and run it if you want to  do that, which is like what I did. Now, one extra  

tip I have is a great way to stop sketchy online  data brokers from selling all your personal info,  

not just to the highest bidder, but basically any  bidder. But the way to stop it is today's sponsor,  

DeleteMe, a data privacy service to which I myself  have been a paying customer for over three years  

now, long before they ever sponsored. If you've  ever Googled yourself, you definitely have seen  

the countless so-called "data broker" websites  who not only collect and display all your personal  

information, like name, address, and phone number,  but even sell it to companies to do whatever they  

want with it. But that's where DeleteMe comes in.  They do all the work for you in submitting removal  

requests on your behalf. New data brokers pop up  all the time, so DeleteMe is constantly adding  

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a privacy report for which sites you were removed  from after seven days and every three months after  

that. So you can see exactly which sites are  clean and which ones have removals in progress.  

But you can also submit customer requests to have  specialists remove any data from hundreds of other  

sites, even surprising ones like berkeley.edu, for  example. It's not even a data broker, but DeleteMe  

will still help you get removed from it if you're  on there for some reason. So if you want to get  

your personal information removed from the web and  search results, go to JoinDeleteMe.com/ThioJoe and  

use the promo code "THIOJOE" for a nice  discount. And with all that being said,  

let's continue. Alright on to number four. This is  more of a general computer life tip, I guess. And  

that is if you were like me who had a big stack  or file cabinet full of physical user manuals  

for different products you've bought over the  years, and you just keep the manual around just in  

case... Well what I started doing is to actually  either, one, if you can find it online, find the  

online version of all the product manuals, or if  you can't, actually scan them into a PDF and then  

save them all into one folder on your computer  and throw out all the physical manuals. This  

has often made my life a lot easier. For example,  if I want to look up the product manual, I don't  

have to dig through a bunch of piles of physical  ones. I can simply search for it in that folder.  

I'll put the product name, maybe even the model  number in the file name and just search for it.  

And it's a lot easier than searching physically.  And on top of that, if you download the digital  

version or use optical character recognition  on the ones you scan, you can often just search  

through the PDF for the term you're looking for.  If you're looking for a specific problem to fix,  

instead of having to literally flip through the  pages of the physical one and have to look in the  

table of contents to see if it even talks about  the problem you want to deal with, it's a lot  

easier. And of course it saves a lot of space.  Alright next up, number five is a way to address  

an occasional issue I've come across in Windows,  which is that by default, usually enabled in the  

Device Manager settings, is that Windows may power  down USB powered devices if it's considered idle.  

For example, if you go in the device manager in  Windows and right click a USB device and then go  

to Properties and then the Power Management tab,  a lot of times you'll see this option for "Allow  

Windows to turn this off when it's not being  used". And in the past, this has caused issues  

with devices not working properly when I think it  should. And I actually created a PowerShell script  

that automatically goes through all of these and  unchecks that box basically. But another important  

thing to note about this is, I believe, at least  in the past, when you did a major Windows update,  

maybe even not a major one, it would actually  reset this setting in all the devices, which is  

part of the reason I did the script, just so I  wouldn't have to manually go through them every  

time. So if you do end up running the script,  maybe every once in a while, go check to make sure  

that it's still disabled and Windows didn't reset  it. And then you can just use the script again.  

I'll put the link in the description where you  can go on GitHub and just download it. And then  

you can run it by opening PowerShell. I believe it  has to be as an admin. You can use the command CD  

to change directory to wherever you have that  file. And then because PowerShell is weird,  

you have to run the script by doing a period and  then a backslash and then the name of the script,  

and then it should run. You might also need to run  this command first, which will temporarily remove  

a restriction for Windows to block PowerShell  scripts. Just make sure you include the "-Scope  

Process" one. That makes sure that it will go back  to the normal security setting after you close the  

window. I've seen a lot of tutorials that talk  about PowerShell scripts that don't include that,  

and then you kind of leave your computer open  afterwards. So definitely include that. Okay,  

I believe we're up to number six, and this one  has to do with the terminal app in Windows,  

which is basically a more feature-rich version  of the command prompt. It's like the new version  

of that. Anyway, usually when you right click  something, I don't know if this depends on how you  

have Windows set up, but you should usually see  an "Open in Terminal" option, and that will simply  

open the terminal with the path that you right  clicked in preset. So it makes it a lot easier  

than having to type in the path manually. But what  you can also do, if you need to run a terminal in  

admin mode, what you can do is actually go into  the Microsoft GitHub page for the preview version  

of the Terminal and install that alongside the  regular version, and then actually set that one  

to automatically go into the admin mode. So you  can right click in a folder and basically choose  

whether you want to run it as normal or admin. And  the way you do that is open the Terminal Preview  

app and then go into the settings and then look  at whatever the default profile is. In my case, I  

set it to command prompt. So I go into that on the  left side, and then you simply toggle the setting  

on that says "Run this profile as Administrator".  And then also make sure the option to start in  

parent directory is checked. That makes sure that  it starts in that path that you right clicked  

from. And now you can easily open a terminal  anywhere, either as regular user or admin, in  

just two clicks. Up next, number seven is a couple  ways to easily extract text from an image. One way  

is to use Microsoft's Power Toys suite of tools.  This is published by Microsoft. You can actually  

get this from the Microsoft store, download from  there. And I'm not going to get into all the  

different tools in this, I've made videos about  this. But specifically the one I'm looking for  

is the Text Extractor, you can toggle that one on.  And then you can either use the shortcut, which I  

always forget, or you can click on the little icon  in the system tray and it'll bring up a menu of a  

bunch of different tools you have enabled. You can  simply click on Text Extractor. It will bring up  

a cursor, you select what you want to extract the  text from in the image, and it'll try to interpret  

it, and then you can paste it from the clipboard.  Alternatively, the latest version of the snipping  

tool built into Windows also does text extraction.  If you take a screenshot, highlight an area,  

you'll see this little box icon show up and you  can click that. It'll analyze and find text and  

you can select some of it or all of it, and it'll  copy to the clipboard. And that might be useful  

because one might be more accurate than another  in some cases, you can try both. Okay, onto number  

eight is an easy way to get to the BIOS menu on  your computer. You probably know that there's  

a BIOS key you can usually press, either the  delete key or the F2 key or something like that,  

when the computer boots up and then it'll bring  you to the BIOS screen. But doing that, a lot of  

times that just ends up with you pressing the key  a whole bunch of times, booting up the computer,  

hoping that you time it right. Or sometimes you  might not even know what the key is in the first  

place, but you can actually create a shortcut in  Windows to automatically restart the computer and  

go directly into the BIOS without having to  hit any key. And the way you do that is to  

create a shortcut. So right-click, create shortcut  anywhere. And then in the target box, you're going  

to type in this command, "cmd.exe /k shutdown /r/  fw /t 1 . And I can break down what these all do.  

The cmd.exe /k, that just means we're going to be  running this command through the command prompt  

and the /k makes it so the command prompt Windows  stays open after it runs, so you can see what it's  

doing. The shutdown /r is the command to restart  the computer. That's what the /r does and the /fw,  

this is actually the key here. This stands  for firmware and that's the one that makes it  

restart to the BIOS. /t, that stands for time, and  that's just the number of seconds to delay before  

restarting. I just set it to one, so it's not  necessarily instant, but that one doesn't really  

matter. And then all you have to do is simply  double-click on that shortcut, make sure you want  

to actually restart the computer if you do, and it  will boot directly to the BIOS settings. Alright,  

now the next three tips are really quick.  These are just some keyboard shortcuts that  

are probably good to know. And for number nine,  I'm going to actually group two together. You  

have the "Ctrl + Backspace" and "Ctrl + Delete"  shortcuts. And this simply allows you to delete an  

entire word instead of just pressing the backspace  character by character. And the difference between  

backspace and delete key, is the backspace goes  to the left and the delete key deletes anything  

to the right, but it's still word by word instead  of character by character. Next, number 10 is a  

quick cool one. And that is if you have a window  open, if you press Alt + Escape, it will simply  

send that window to the back behind any other  open windows. And for number 11, this is one  

that a lot of people see as common knowledge, but  you might not. And that is in many many programs,  

you can zoom in by pressing Ctrl and then  scrolling up and down. And this is, for example,  

in Google Chrome, but also a lot of other programs  too. Okay, we're up to number 12. And this is a  

really cool tool that is built into Windows  that most people don't know about. And that  

is the Quick Assist tool. And you can just find  this by searching it in the start menu. What this  

does is makes it really easy to connect remotely  to someone's computer if they need help, whether  

you're the person that needs the help or giving  the help. I'm not going to get too far into this  

in detail. I made another video where I did, but  the basics of it is you simply use a code that you  

give the other person, and then they're able to  connect to your computer and do a bunch of stuff,  

and you can watch what they're doing. And it makes  it a lot easier than maybe having to describe  

something over the phone that you're trying to  fix. And I'd even say it's a bit safer than other  

remote desktop software like TeamViewer because  this, every time it's a one-time session, so they  

can't keep reconnecting to your computer. And  also I think you can like kick them off easier.  

So it's a bit safer in my opinion. Alright, now  number 13 is another more general computer tip,  

but also for a lot of devices. And you probably  know that a lot of times if you need to fix  

something that's acting weird, simply turning  it off and on again fixes it a lot of times,  

not just for computers, but a lot of stuff. But  another good thing to know, this is the real tip,  

is it's often good to not just turn it back on  right away, but actually wait like 30 seconds or  

up to a minute and then turn it back on. A lot  of times you'll see instruction manuals that  

may actually say this, and you might've wondered  why. And that's basically because in the computer,  

you have stuff like capacitors or inductors that  stay energized for a little while after the power  

is cut from it. And this might be powering memory  chips that hold onto a bit of information that  

might be causing the issue one way or another, it  might just be being weird. And if you turn off the  

thing and keep it turned off for long enough,  usually about a minute at most, that's just an  

extra way to make sure that really everything  gets totally reset, even at the physical level.  

And sometimes that can help when otherwise just  turning it off and on again immediately might  

not. Alright, we still got a few more, we're  up to number 14, and that is enabling Windows  

long file paths. So not a lot of people know about  this unless you're like a Windows power user, but  

Windows actually has a maximum file path length of  260 characters. I'm not talking about a file name.  

I mean that the entire path, including all the  folders leading to that file, including the file  

name, can only be a maximum of 260 characters.  Which means if you use a lot of deep folders,  

then you could run into a problem where you can't  create a file or rename it to something too long,  

you can just run into issues. But you can actually  change a setting in Windows that expands this to  

like 30,000 characters, so effectively unlimited.  There's a couple of ways to do this. One is a bit  

easier than the other. If you're on Windows Pro  edition, this is a lot easier. You simply go into  

the Group Policy Editor and then go to Computer  Configuration, Administrative Templates, System,  

File System. And then on the right, look for  "Enable Win32 Long Paths" and change that to  

Enabled. If you're on Windows Home Edition,  Microsoft has an article, which I'll link to  

in the description. And in there, they have a  PowerShell command that you can run. So just  

look for where it talks about enabling the long  paths, look for this command, hit the copy button,  

and then open PowerShell by searching in the start  menu, running it as Administrator, paste it in and  

run it. And that should enable it. Okay, number  15 is a couple of ways to find hidden launch  

parameters in certain programs. Everybody already  knows that if you double click on an exe file or  

shortcut, it will open the program. But another  way you can technically do it is to open a command  

prompt to that location and then type in the  name and run it that way. It does the same thing,  

but it's just another way. And the reason you  might want to do this is because a lot of times  

programs also have launch parameter options,  where if you do it through the command line,  

you can add these additional options that might  change how the program behaves. And these a lot  

of times are usually going to be documented  in like the help articles or whatever, but  

sometimes there are launch parameters that are not  documented anywhere necessarily. So what you can  

do to find these a lot of times is, maybe go to  your favorite program, and then if you type in the  

command prompt, the name of the exe, and then add  stuff like /help or -help or two dashes and help,  

or another common one is "/?" A lot of times this  will list out a bunch of the command options and  

descriptions of them. And other times even  inputting invalid parameters will help. For  

example, here's a file from Camtasia, it's a  screen recorder. And this particular file, if  

you type in -help, it'll specifically say "that's  not a valid thing", and then show a window with  

all the possible ones. And I don't believe these  are listed anywhere. So it's maybe good to know  

about if you want to look for hidden parameters,  you can try just invalid ones in addition to the  

-help. Just be aware that for some programs, it's  very possible that it won't show anything if you  

type in an invalid parameter. So don't expect  this to work all the time, just sometimes. Okay,  

got a couple left, and for number 16, it's to  increase the log size for the Windows Event  

Viewer log. This is more for power users, but if  you've ever used the Event Viewer log to look up  

error messages and stuff like that, what you  can do is go to Windows logs, expand these.  

These are probably the most main ones you're  going to be looking at. And for each of these,  

right click and go to properties and look for  the Maximum Log Size option. For some of them,  

the default is going to be 20 megabytes, so like  20,000 kilobytes. But I would personally expand  

this to like a hundred megabytes or more. It's  really not that much space and it allows for  

much larger logs and just keeping track of way  more stuff before everything gets overwritten  

and deleted. Now you might look at this list and  scroll all the way down to the bottom and say,  

"well look at this, the default, it's already  going back like six months. Why do I need it to  

be even longer?" But when this might come in  handy is if you have some kind of issue that  

starts generating a whole bunch of error messages  and then it kind of takes up the whole log and  

starts overwriting everything else. For example,  this security log, I don't even think these are  

necessarily errors or problems. It's just, there's  a lot of stuff that gets logged here. And you can  

see this only goes back a day on the 20 megabytes.  Just keep in mind, you do have to do this for each  

individual log file. And there are a lot more  possible logs that you can look through than  

just these. But if you're more advanced user  and you're looking through those other ones,  

you probably know which ones you want to increase  the log size for anyway. And finally, for number  

17, this is another simple one in Windows.  And that is to change the user account control  

to the strictest setting. And you do that by  searching User Account Control in the start menu,  

clicking that, and then just putting the bar all  the way up to the top, and then hit Okay. This is  

the thing that pops up a box when you do anything  important it says. But if it's at the top,  

basically it'll run and double check anytime you  run anything as an administrator. Now to be clear,  

this is not like a bulletproof virus protection  strategy or anything. It can usually be bypassed  

by a virus that knows what it's doing, but it's  just an extra little layer of security. Or at  

the very least, it's a way to simply know when  you're going to be running something that wants  

admin privileges, just a little bit better to  know about, a little bit of extra security. And  

so that's it. And also let me know if there's  any computer tips that I did not mention that  

you think are good to know. And also check  down there, someone might've left a comment  

with a really cool tip that I didn't. Thanks  again to DeleteMe for sponsoring. And again,  

if you want to have your personal info removed  from data brokers, go to JoinDeleteMe.com/ThioJoe  

and use the promo code "THIOJOE" for a discount.  If you enjoyed this video, give it a big giant  

thumbs up for the YouTube algorithm. And if you  want to subscribe, I try to make videos about  

twice a week, usually Wednesday and Saturday. And  if you want to keep watching, the next video I'd  

recommend is where I talked about the most useless  Windows folder ever, that 3D objects folder that  

you might remember from Windows 10. What was the  deal with that? I explained that in this video.  

I'll put that link right there. So thanks so much  for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.