I was recently in India and was getting very frustrated with the constant Webpage cannot load errors followed by the website loading 5 seconds later. I kept seeing the DNS lookup failed message, so I figured let me try another DNS provider and that made an absolute world of difference. There are a bunch of public DNS servers you can use, but I won’t bother mentioning them all as the top 5 to 10 will cover the needs for pretty much everyone....

The Windows registry is basically a really big database with a bunch of keys and values that stores data about everything that makes Windows and the applications installed on it run. The registry starts off very large and can definitely grow in size over time as you install apps, uninstall apps, add/remove hardware, etc. A lot of registry cleaners claim that they will remove “junk” or “corrupt” entries from the registry and thereby reduce crashes, blue screens, and general computer slowness....

You can perform all these procedures by yourself without hiring tech assistance. Use Settings to Remove a Printer on Windows 10/11 If you use a method other than Settings to remove your printer, use the Settings app and you should have success in getting rid of your printer from your machine. This method works on both Windows 10 and 11 PCs. On Windows 10: On Windows 11: Use the Print Server Properties Window to Remove a Printer If Settings doesn’t remove your printer, another way to get rid of your installed printers is to use the Print Server Properties window....

You can run both from within Windows itself, which saves you from having to boot to the advanced startup screen. Run Chkdsk in Windows 8/10 To run chkdsk, go to Computer and click right-click on the disk you want to check and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and then click on the Check button under Error Checking. Windows will begin scanning your drive for any errors. This could take a few minutes....

PC gaming is unquestionably better for frame rate, graphics, and overall experience. Many e-sport competitions, such as the new $3 million Apex Legends league, are also PC-only. The trouble is, leaving the console behind means making a difficult decision between trying to master a mouse and keyboard, or going with the sticks on a controller, which could limit your potential as a player. Obviously, nothing beats a controller when it comes to sitting back on a couch to relax, but what about competitive play?...

The instructions below will show what you must do to disable the default built-in PDF viewer in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. That forces your browser to download PDFs to local storage. Unfortunately, you can’t do the same in Safari, but a useful workaround exists that lets you download PDFs without opening them. Disable the Built-In PDF Viewer in Chrome In Google Chrome, you have the option of downloading PDFs instead of opening them....

This had caused quite a storm of controversy because a lot of groups feel it should be explicitly turned on by the user instead of being chosen for them automatically. This is why it was disabled in IE 11 and in Microsoft Edge. However, if you want to turn on Do Not Track in IE 11 or Edge, here’s how to do it. It’s worth noting that the Do Not Track request doesn’t have to be honored by the website you are visiting....

In this article, we’ll show you how you can create a customized world in Minecraft, and then we’ll discuss what each of the settings does. How to Create a Customized Minecraft World A Customized world, now called Old Customized, refers to a custom world type that allows users to replace the default world terrain with their chosen features. Mojang introduced Old Customized maps in version 1.8. The option to create Old Customized maps existed until snapshot 18w05a of version 1....

The Roku Channel Store offers plenty of channels to add to your Roku. There are various genres to choose from. You can use your Roku device, the Roku website, or the Roku mobile app to add channels to your device. Add a Channel to Roku Using the Roku Device Itself You can use your Roku device itself to get access to various channels. The device gives you access to the Roku Channel Store, which hosts many free and paid channels....

In this article, we’ll explain how to cancel your Canva subscription on each available platform. How to Cancel Your Canva Subscription If you want to cancel your Canva subscription, you can do so via your web browser, mobile, Android app, or iOS app. Once you cancel your subscription, your plan will end after your current billing period. This means you’ll have access to all of the paid features up until that point....

Even so, the Redmond-based tech giant needlessly complicates the default browser settings in attempts to make users stick with Edge. But don’t worry. If you want to stop using Microsoft Edge, the instructions below should help you figure out what you must do to change the default web browser in Windows 11/10. Additionally, you’ll learn how to modify the operating system’s behavior for instances when it overrides your default browser preferences and continues to open links in Edge....

Last, are you alarmed by the recent news about the social media companies in privacy breaches? Apart from rigorous password hygiene and mandatory two factor authentication or simply jettisoning these companies entirely, you can take another step to greater security by periodically policing the apps/modules/websites that you’ve allowed to access your Google and Facebook accounts. Below, we show you how to review, check, calibrate, and remove connected apps from your Google account and Facebook accounts....

With Clips, Twitch lets you create short video snippets (or clips) of whatever it is that you’re watching. It even enables you to edit your takes, which means you can nail down the exact moments you want to capture. Sharing obviously plays a major role in this feature. Besides letting you push your clips via social media or directly as Twich.tv links, Twitch will also publish them for everyone to see....

This guide will walk you through exactly how to set up smart lights with Alexa, how to control them once you’ve set them up, and more. “Alexa, please turn on the lights,” will become a common phrase in your home. How to Set Up Lights With Alexa One of the main benefits of Alexa as a platform is how easy it is to add new devices. How to Add Lights Through Alexa First, open the Alexa app and tap the Devices tab....

If you’re thinking about starting your own Facebook group page for a certain interest, it’s actually very easy to do. You’ll automatically become the admin of the group, allowing you to manage all aspects of it, which becomes necessary as more people join. In this guide you’ll learn how to create a group page on Facebook as well as how to manage it. How to Create a Group Page on Facebook Creating a group page on Facebook is easy and doesn’t have any requirements besides having a Facebook account....

If you disable SSID broadcast, it’s true that the network name will not show up when someone searches for available networks using their standard wireless network adapter. However, this does not hide the network itself in any way. With the right software or technique, anyone can “see” your network and connect to it as they normally would with the network ID and password. In this article you’ll learn how SSID broadcasting works, how people can still connect to “hidden” networks, and finally how you can disable SSID broadcast on your router....

While it may sound a little crazy, you can actually download ALL of Wikipedia for offline use and we’re going to show you how it’s done. Why Would You Download Wikipedia? Why would anyone want to download Wikipedia? After all, the site is only a few clicks away and one of the best things about Wikipedia is that it’s updated quickly. An offline copy would become out of date pretty quickly....

At first, I thought this was something to do with the application we just installed, so I decided to restart the computer in Safe Mode and uninstall the app. It seemed to have worked because the BSOD went away, but only for a short time. STOP: 0x00000050 (0xCD3DD628, 0x00000001, 0x804EFC9A, 0x00000000) After a few more restarts, the message came back again! After doing some research, I found out that this error message basically means that Windows is trying to find a piece of data in memory and it cannot be found....

Turn on the Text-to-Speech Tool in Google Docs If you already have a screen reader, you’ll need to turn on the accessibility tool in Google Docs to hear your document read to you. You should then hear “Screen reader support enabled.” You can use the controls for your screen reader or those in the Accessibility settings to listen to the document content. Use Screen Reader for Google Chrome If you’re looking for extension options, the first to check out is Screen Reader (ChromeVox) by Google for the Chrome browser....

Zelda games are beloved by millions of people all over the world, but if you want to play them on a PC rather than a console, you’ll have to do a bit of legwork. How to Play the Legend of Zelda on Your PC With the exception of a brief dalliance with the 3DO console in the 90s, all Legend of Zelda games are developed by Nintendo exclusively for their consoles....