Wanem Online Guide: Windows 10

Results for Windows 10

How to disable useless service that causes your computer slow ?

Anonymous May 07, 2020

Do you know there are many useless services can cause a slow computer? They not only take memory resource but also can be used by spyware. Technically, service is known as a process run various process which does not requires user's intervention. Why we need to create this kind of component?

Services helps basic programs run smoothly on Windows system and achieve special effects. Obviously, not all the services are necessary. Unwanted services not only take memory resource but also can be used by spyware. Optimizing services can reduce CPU usage to prevent computer get slowdown and crash.We are talking about the free way to speed up your computer.

Part 1 of 3:Manage Startup Programs On Your Computer

1
Click Start menu and select Run to use the feature. It will show you a "Diagnostic Box". The command is Msconfig.

2
Click the OK button to access System Configuration Utility interface. On the top of the window, you should click the "Startup" tab to view the startup programs list.

3
Uncheck any items you don't want it to load during computer booting. It will take effect after rebooting. Use Task Manager in Windows 8.

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Part 2 of 3:Manage Services On Your Computer
Your computer runs fast when it was bought. Why it becomes slow? People are not aware that additional services are added to your computer when you install some third-party software. As the result, the CPU usage may reach to a high level and memory is taken away. Then your computer slows down and crashes a lot. That nothing frustrated than getting into the trouble of a slow computer,

1
Check the service immediately after installing a new software.

2
Open the System Configuration Utility (as described in part 1)

3
Select "Services" tab to disable all the items by unchecking the boxes. However, without suggestion, we always make mistake when doing that. Manually disabling service does more harm than good.

4
Use system optimization tool as a good choice for disabling services. WinMate is free and can definitely speed up your computer.

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Part 3 of 3:Clean Up The Desktop Items
Deleting the shortcuts only removes the icons. If you want to remove the programs:

1
Go to Control Panel.

2
Click on Programs and Features

3
Uninstall a program

How to disable useless service that causes your computer slow ?

Reviewed by Anonymous on May 07, 2020 Rating: 5

How to unlock a Windows 10 computer in new ways via Windows Hello

Wanem Club March 22, 2020

Understand how to log in to Windows in new ways via Windows Hello

How Windows Hello works

Windows Hello is the latest innovation in protecting your devices. Instead of using a password to sign in to your devices, apps, online services and networks, it uses ‘biometric authentication’. This means that you sign in with your face, iris or fingerprint. You can also use a PIN or even a picture if you prefer.
The Lumia 950 and 950 XL are currently Windows Hello ready, with more devices supporting Windows Hello due to be available in the future. However, even if you don’t have a Lumia 950, you can still set up a unique picture or PIN to log in.
If you decide to stop using Windows Hello, the identifying features of your face, iris or fingerprint will be deleted. This information never leaves your device and Windows does not store it anywhere.

How to set up Windows Hello

If you’d like to set up Windows Hello on your phone, swipe to the ‘All apps’ list from Start and then go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options. If you don’t see an option for Windows Hello, your phone doesn’t support it. You may need to input your PIN to continue. Select ‘Set up’ under Windows Hello and follow the instructions.
If you’d like to set up a picture password or pin on your computer, click on Start and then go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options. If you don’t see Windows Hello as an option, but you’d like to set up a picture password, click on ‘Add’ under picture password.
If you are setting up a picture password on a computer, type in your Microsoft account password and then browse to find the picture you want to use.
Use your mouse to draw three gestures (circles, straight lines or taps) on the picture. These gestures will become your log in password. You will then be asked to repeat these gestures to confirm. You can start again or cancel at any time.
Once you’re happy with your picture password, click on ‘Finish’.
To turn off Windows Hello, go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and deselect ‘Automatically unlock the screen if we recognise you’ or ‘Remove’ to get rid of a picture password.
If you want to remove your identification data, go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and select ‘Remove’ under Windows Hello, select Remove.

Now we know how to use Windows Hello and picture passwords to add extra protection to our computers or phones. Feel free to explore other Windows 10 features in our collection of guides.

How to unlock a Windows 10 computer in new ways via Windows Hello

Reviewed by Wanem Club on March 22, 2020 Rating: 5

How To Avoid And Fix Memory Leaks In Windows 10

Wanem Club July 08, 2019

You might have encountered issues with computer performance, potentially causing memory leaks. Various software can slow down your computer if it leaks memory (when a program fails to 'release' memory it has used). By default, a closed program should allow other software then to use that same area of memory. If, however, the program is still using the memory having been closed, that is where memory leak problems begin.

A memory leak is a Random Access Memory (RAM) loss caused by one or more programs. Therefore, a specific program is using more memory than it should, or it is not releasing it when the program closed, and continues to use the memory. A certain amount of RAM is required for a process to run, and this is perfectly normal, unless the system starts to behave abnormally. Memory leaks are usually only temporary, since restarting the computer empties RAM memory. If, however, the computer remains switched on with various processes running in the background, some processes might cause memory leaks.

Edit Registry

Windows Registry, usually referred to as just 'the registry', is a collection of databases of configuration settings in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is used to store much of the information and settings for software programs, hardware devices, user preferences, operating system configurations, and much more. Many of the options exposed in the registry are not accessible elsewhere in Windows. To open Registry Editor, you will first need to open Run dialog box. Press Windows Windows key + R or right-click Start and select "Run" and type "regedit". Press Enter or click "OK".

NOTE: Create a restore point before you make any changes in Windows Registry (editing the Registry incorrectly can lead to more serious problems).

Follow this path by expanding every entry until you find the "Ndu" key: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services". Find "Ndu" key under Services and select it. Now you should see the "Start" REG_DWORD on the right pane. Double-click it and assign the value data to 4. Click "OK" to save the changes.

Now find the "Null" key under the same Services key and double-click "Start" REG_DWORD. Also set its value to 4 . Click "OK" to save the changes.

Now follow this path: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager" and select the "Memory Management" key. Double-click the "NonPagedPoolSize" REG_DWORD on the right pane. Change Base to "Decimal" and set value data to 192. Click "OK" to save the changes, exit Registry and see if memory leak problem is now solved. If not, try to restart your computer after editing the Registry.

Disable Superfetch

Superfetch is a Windows service that is intended to speed up application launching and improve system responsiveness. It caches data so that it can be immediately available to your application. Superfetch achieves this by preloading frequently-used programs into RAM so that they are not required to be called from the hard drive. This can sometimes affect performance and slow down the system, or cause memory leaks. To disable Superfetch, open the Run dialog box and type "services.msc". Press Enter on the keyboard or click "OK".

Now set the "Startup type" to "Disabled" and stop the service by pressing the "Stop" button. Click "Apply" to save the changes, restart your computer, and check if this solves the memory leak problem.

Run Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool

Run the built-in Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. Windows Memory Diagnostic is a memory test tool, which is comprehensive and easy to use. To launch it, type "windows memory diagnostic" or "mdsched" in Search and click the "Windows Memory Diagnostic" result.

To run diagnostics, restart the computer. You will be asked if you want to restart now or to run it the next time you start your computer. When you restart the computer, Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool will start automatically. You will be able to see the test process and results on the screen.

Defragment Your Hard Drive

A built-in Windows feature called "Defragment and Optimize Drives" optimizes drives to help the system run more efficiently (or analyzes them to determine if they require optimization). To launch the defragmentation tool, type "defragment" in Search and click the "Defragment and Optimize Drives" result.

You will see a list of drives connected to the computer. Select the hard drive you want to defragment and click "Optimize". The optimization process should take a while. Wait for it to finish.

NOTE: We do not recommend that you defrag your drive if it is a Solid State Drive (SSD) or Hard Disk Drive (HDD).

How To Avoid And Fix Memory Leaks In Windows 10

Reviewed by Wanem Club on July 08, 2019 Rating: 5

The Best Ways to Edit the Windows Context Menu

Wanem Club February 25, 2019

Also referred to as Right Click Menu, the Context Menu is a pop-up menu that appears when you right click your desktop or an icon on your screen. Its purpose is to provide the user with a quick way to perform various actions such as copying or deleting files, deciding which program to use for opening a certain document, etc.

Why would you need to change the context menu? Either to extend its functionality or to get rid of some unused buttons. While the first is obvious, the second may need a bit of explanation: many computer programs will offer the "shell integration" feature (they will place one or more buttons in the context menu), but "forget" to remove it when you uninstall them. Depending on your tolerance level, there might come a time when your right-click menu will contain so many entries that it will slow you down instead of helping you get something done quicker, so removing some of them will be crucial.
There are two ways to modify the contents of your context menu: manually, by changing some entries in the registry editor, or by using specialized software to help you out. No mater which method you choose, if you are new to this kind of things, it's probably best to create a system backup before actually committing to any changes.
For the manual solution, you will need to open the registry editor by clicking on Start --> Run (or pressing the Windows key + R), and then typing regedit and pressing Enter. A new window will open and you'll have to navigate it the following way: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT --> * --> shellex --> ContextMenuHandlers. There you will find the entries from your context menu, and you can remove or edit whichever you want. The tricky part is that they might not have the exact same name as the text on the button, so finding the right entry might be a little difficult.
If you (understandably) consider that editing your registries is too complicated, and you would rather use a tool to help you out, here are a few applications that will make this assignment much easier:

ShellExView - a simple tool that will allow you to view and disable any item from your right click menu. This program is portable so you can easily copy it to an external storage device and use it on any computer you want.
Right Click Extender - as you've probably guessed from its name, this application is designed to help you add buttons to your context menu in order to enhance its functionality. The downside is that, as far I know, this program doesn't allow you to remove any context menu buttons except for the ones added by itself. The biggest advantage in using this tool is the fact that it helps you create system backup points directly from its interface, keeping you safe from unwanted changes.
FileMenu Tools - is a program that is easy to use, yet a bit more comprehensive than the ones previously mentioned. This application will allow you to remove as well as add functions to your right-click menu, configure the order in which they appear, create sub-menus and a lot more. Since it gives its users complete control and yet manages to be very intuitive, this application is the one I generally use for my context menu editing needs.
Ultimate Windows Customizer - I wasn't sure if I should include this application because it breaks the pattern of the other ones, but I decided to give you as many options as possible. What's different about this program is that it offers a lot more than just context menu editor. It also give you the possibility to tweak a wide variety of aspects regarding the Windows UI like the Start Button, Log-on Screen, Taskbar, etc. So, if you want to play around and do more than just modify the buttons in the context menu, you will probably find this tool appealing. However, if all you need is to edit the context menu, then you should choose one of the previous tools and keep things as simple as possible.

The Best Ways to Edit the Windows Context Menu

Reviewed by Wanem Club on February 25, 2019 Rating: 5

Best remote desktop tools for Windows

Wanem Club February 25, 2019

Being able to access your home or office computers from a remote location can be highly beneficial. Furthermore, people who work in IT support need to be able to see their clients' screens and take control over other PCs remotely in order to do their jobs. Even though there are numerous applications that include remote access functions, it's hard to know which ones you can actually trust. In case you're interested, here are the best remote desktop tools for Windows.

TeamViewer

Currently the most popular product of its kind, TeamViewer isn't only user-friendly, but also quite secure. Besides allowing you to remotely control computers and access files, the application also includes useful collaboration tools such as the ability to put together virtual meetings with up to 25 participants. Remote connections are very easy to set up and are protected with a password to prevent unauthorized access. What's even better is that the application is free for personal use and starts $49 / month for business clients.

AnyDesk

When it comes to desktop-sharing solutions, AnyDesk is one of the best ones that you can find. If you have a great Internet connection or if the PC you're connecting to is in the same LAN as you, the tool can give you up to 60 fps when watching videos or playing remotely. Another big plus for the application is that it incorporates TLS 1.2 technology, which means that you can perform remote banking or other money-related transactions in a secure environment. Prices start at $79.

Chrome Remote Desktop

If you're looking for a simple solution for personal use, then Chrome Remote Desktop is just what you need. It functions like a Chrome plug-in and allows the remote user to see the controlled PC in a browser tab, like a web page. Once you connect to your Google account, you will see a list with all the available devices and remotely connect to any of them through it. Security is taken care of through a PIN code and once you've got everything set up, you will be pleasantly surprised by the stability of the connections.

Splashtop

Last on our list, Splashtop is also great when it comes to video and audio streaming. It's mostly used in the education department, but the application also includes some great futures for IT support personnel. There are multiple levels of security protecting the remote access as well as the file transfer processes and prices range from $5 per month.

Best remote desktop tools for Windows

Reviewed by Wanem Club on February 25, 2019 Rating: 5

Control automatic updates in Windows 10

Wanem Club January 24, 2019

You've surely often heard that keeping your operating system up-to-date is good for your security and it's actually true. However, there are people who could have valid reasons for wanting to hold off on an update. Unfortunately, Microsoft has decided to prevent all Windows 10 users from disabling the automatic updates. Since I hate it when people restrict my freedoms, here's how you can work around this restriction and control the automatic updates in Windows 10.

Disabling Windows 10 updates

Even though Microsoft has made it harder to this, there are still a couple of tricks that you can use to prevent your operating system from updating:
Windows 10 Home users can lie to their operating system, telling it that they're on a metered network. Since Microsoft doesn't want its users to have issues with their data caps, this will prevent the automatic download of updates. To do this, go to Start --> Settings --> Network & Internet --> Change connection properties and move the slider for the Metered connection to the On position. Now, click on the Set a data limit to help control data usage on this network button that's right under the slider and make sure the Background Data category has the Never box checked. Repeat the process for all the networks that you use (both WiFi and Ethernet) and you should be good to go.

Windows 10 Professional, Enterprise or Education users have an even more elegant way to stop the automatic updates. Open the Run box by pressing Win+R on your keyboard, then type gpedit.msc and hit Enter. This will open the group policy window and, from there, go to Computer Configuration --> Administrative Templates --> Windows components --> Windows update --> Defer updates. Click on the Select when Feature Updates are received option, choose Enabled in the respective dialog box, then select for how many days you would like to delay the update and click Apply. Now, do the same for the Select when Quality Updates are received option and you're done. Unfortunately, this solution will only allow you to stop updates for a maximum of approximately 35 days (depending on the update).

Controlling Windows 10 Updates

To gain full control over the automatic updates without actually disabling them, you're going to need to play around with the System Registry Editor. Even though if you follow my instructions to the letter, you should be fine, I still recommend creating a backup point for your operating system just to be on the safe side.

Now, press Win+R, type regedit in the Run box and hit Enter. Go to Computer --> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE --> SOFTWARE --> Policies --> Microsoft --> Windows. Right-click the Windows entry, then hover the New option and click on Key. Type WindowsUpdate as the name of the newly created key, press Enter, then right-click it and create another new key within it named AU. Now, select the AU key, right-click it, go to New, but this time select DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this one AuOptions, press Enter and double-click it. Finally, replace the value data with the digit that corresponds to your choice:

2 - Notify before downloading and auto-installing the update;
3 - Download automatically, then notify for installation;
4 - Download automatically and schedule the installtion;
5 - Allow local admin to decide.

After you've entered the digit that corresponds the option you want to use, press OK and you're done.

Control automatic updates in Windows 10

Reviewed by Wanem Club on January 24, 2019 Rating: 5

VLC for Windows 10: convert and compress video files

Wanem Club October 15, 2017

Everyone who watches videos on a PC has at least heard about VLC as it's not only the most popular player available, but also one that offers an impressive amount of features without asking for any money in return. Mostly known for the fact that it can play pretty much every media format out there without requiring additional codecs, VLC can perform quite a few very interesting tricks that not many people know about. For example, it can convert and compress videos.

Yes, I know that video converter isn't the first or even second thing that you think about when you install VLC, but why download additional third-party utilities when you already have an application perfectly capable of seeing this task through? Even though I will admit that VLC isn't as straightforward as a full-time video converter, it does offer a whole lot of customization options and it even embeds batch conversion capabilities.

To access this feature launch VLC, then click the Media button from the top left corner and select the Convert/Save option (or simply press Ctrl + R). In the new window that opens up, use the Addbutton to select the file(s) that you want converted, then choose Convert from the drop-down menu in the bottom-right corner. Now, simply select the desired format from the Profilesection, choose the location and the name of the output file and click Start. Support includes AVI, MP4, WMV, TS, ASF, MPEG and other video formats as well as MP3, FLAC, AAC, OGG and other audio formats.

If you're someone who needs more advanced options, you have those too: you can choose the encapsulation that you want, select the desired video and audio codec or overlay subtitles directly over the output file. Furthermore, you can customize the bitrate, quality or frame rate of the video, modify the resolution and even add filters to the output file by choosing them from a comprehensive list including sepia, sharpen, motion blur, etc. Of course, shrinking and lowering the quality of the output file effectively means that you can also compress videos from the same menu.

VLC for Windows 10: convert and compress video files

Reviewed by Wanem Club on October 15, 2017 Rating: 5

Best tweaks and tricks to improve Windows 10 performance

Wanem Club October 12, 2017

Windows 10 has just been officially released, but some of us have had it for a while, and there already are some very handy tricks and tweaks to make things run even smoother. Here you will find a list with best tweaks I know that will increase your operating system's performance and privacy. The one thing you should be warned about is that some of these tweaks involve changes in your registry files, so if you make a mistake, you may compromise your entire Windows. This small guide is for advanced user or people who are ready to reinstall their OS in case something goes wrong.

Delete previous Windows installation files

SInce most people install Windows 10 as an upgrade to their current operating systems, generally, there are left-over files containing some of your previous settings and preferences. These not only occupy unnecessary space on your hard disk, but may also be unnecessary. Unfortunately, getting rid of them isn't as easy as you would imagine. In order to delete previous installation files you will need to use Windows's Search function and use the query “Free up disk space” (without the quotes). Click on the shortcut that will be displayed, then choose your primary drive (Usually C: if you have multiple installed), and a new window will appear. Now select the Cleanup system files option, check the box marked Previous Windows installations, then press OK button and confirm you want to delete the files.

Enable new features in the Command Prompt window

Windows has always had a handy console called Command Prompt where you could use various advanced functions, but it was never very user-friendly. In Windows 10 however, you have access to a bunch of new features, such as the ability to paste text, copy the commands you enter and even copy the text that appears inside the console, but you need to enable them first. To do so, open the Command Prompt window (press the Win and R keys), type cmd and press Enter. In the window that opens right-click the icon (on the name bar in top-left corner of the window) and click on Properties. Once the new menu pops up, simply remove the check-mark from the box named Use legacy console, and once you restart the Command Prompt you will have access to all the new features.

Enable System Restore in Windows 10

System Restore is one of the most important functions, as (if you have the necessary storage space) it will enable you to quickly revert your operating system to a previous state in case something goes wrong. In order to enable this feature in Windows 10 you need to right-click the Start button the choose System from the list. In the new window click on System Protection(requires administrator privileges), then select your primary drive (usually C:) and click the Configure button. Now simply check the box marked Turn on System Protection and move the slider from the Disk Space Usage system to something above 0 (preferably, at least 15%). Click OK and you're done.

GodMode

Like the previous versions of the operating system, Windows 10 also has a built-in GodMode designed specifically for power users. Once enabled, this option will give you access to a wide range of customization settings and features that will otherwise be unavailable (in order to stop novice users from accidentally messing up some vital settings). The good news is that turning this mode on is very easy. All you have to do is create a new folder on your desktop (right-click on your desktop, go to New and choose Folder) and copy-paste GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} as its name. The folder will now change into an icon, and you can access all the GodMode settings from there.

Remove the Windows menus display delay

y default, Windows 10 has a small delay before displaying your menus. While not that noticeable, this could still make power users waste some time, so you may need to get rid of it. All you have to do is open your Registry Editor (press the Winand R buttons on your keyboard, then type regedit and press Enter) and find the entry named HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Now right-click on MenuShowDelay (it's in the right-side section), choose Modify and in the Edit String box change the 400 value to something lower (about 100should work just fine). After you press the OK button, the menus will have a much smaller delay which should practically be impossible to notice with the naked eye.

Turn off Wi-Fi Sense

Although a nice idea in theory, Wi-Fi Sense is a huge security and privacy concern for most users, as it automatically shares your Wi-Fi password with your contacts from Facebook, Skype or Outlook, connects to available networks and sends hotspot details about your PC. In other words, in most cases you will be much better off disabling this feature, but, unfortunately, a lot of people aren't aware that Wi-Fi Sense even exists, and even some of those who are don't know how to disable it. To turn off Wi-Fi Sense go to your Windows Settings, click on Network & Internet, then select Wi-Fi and press the Manage Wi-Fi Settings button. Now a new window should appear, where you can move the sliders to disable the Connect to suggested open hotspots and Connect to networks shared by my contacts options. Furthermore, you can choose which of your friends get the details about your network by checking or unchecking the respective boxes.

Enable hidden Dark Theme

If you're tired of the regular Windows 10 theme, you should know that Microsoft has also embedded another one (which is darker), but it's hidden from regular users. In order to use it, you will once again need to open the Registry Editor and find the entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize. Now, go to the right-side pane and create a new DWORD (right-click and choose New then DWORD), name it AppsUseLightTheme and set the value to 0 (it should be 0 by default, so you can just leave it like that). In case if you no longer want the dark UI for your modern apps, simply go back to the registry editor and delete the DWORD that you created. (Additionally, if you are somehow still using an older Windows 10 build, the DWORD should be SystemUsesLightTheme.)

Completely disable the Notification Center in Windows 10

Windows 10's Notification Center is pretty cool, but it can be annoying at times, especially to those who aren't used to it. If you don't like and you would like to turn it off, it's not very hard to do: open the Registry Editor and navigate your way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer. Now create new DWORD named DisableNotificationCenter (check the previous tweak if you don't know how) and set the value to 1. Once that's done, restart your computer (log-out or just restart the Explorer), and the notification system should be gone (it disappears from the Windows Tray as well). In case you want it back, just delete the DWORD that you created.

Best tweaks and tricks to improve Windows 10 performance

Reviewed by Wanem Club on October 12, 2017 Rating: 5

Boost your Windows 10 PC for gaming

Wanem Club October 12, 2017

Today's games are quite resource-demanding, so a lot of people have a hard time running them on their slightly older Windows 10 computers. Trying to play a game that's constantly freezing or lagging is incredibly frustrating, so here are a few tricks that should boost your in-game FPS rate. However, just so we're clear, these aren't magic tricks, so you shouldn't expect to be able to play the latest games if full-details on a five-year old PC.

In-built solutions

Before you go and buy some pompous performance optimizer, there are a few things that you can do on your own to ensure that you have the best possible in-game performance:

Update video drivers - video cards manufacturers are constantly improving and optimizing their drivers so it would behoove you to have the latest versions available installed on your PC.
Close unneeded applications and background process - this will free up more resources for the game to use. In case you're unsure about a background service, Google it before closing it.
Modify the in-game settings - decreasing the resolution, the draw distance, level of detail, shadow quality and similar settings will increase the FPS rate. Disabling or decreasing the Anti-Aliasing can have a really big impact.
Stop the Game DVR recording - go to the Xbox settings and disable the Game DVR recording feature which Microsoft, in its "wisdom", has decided to enable by default for everyone.
Disable Nagle’s algorithm for online games - if you're constantly dealing with latency issues in a game that require an Internet connection, press the Win+R keys, type regedit and hit Enter. Now navigate to the following address HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-->SYSTEM-->CurrentControlSet-->Services-->Tcpip-->Parameters-->Interfaces and start clicking the entries in that directory until you see a key with your IP in the right pane. Right-click under the key that shows your IP and creates the following DWORD values: TcpAckFrequency - set value to 1; TCPNoDelay - set a value to 1; TcpDelAckTicks - set a value to 0.

Third-party solutions

As far as third-party solutions go, many will promise to be a huge help, but they usually don't do that much. Both Nvidia and AMD have their own gaming optimizers that you can install along with the drivers and will automatically adjust the in-game graphical settings for the best performance. Another really great solution is a tool called MSI Afterburner, which won't only show you very detailed information about all your hardware components but will also help you overclock them and change your PC's fan profiles. Lastly, if your computer is quite old, I recommend trying out an application called SwiftShader, which instructs the CPU to take over some of the GPU's rendering functions.

Of course, there are a lot more tools designed to offer a smoother gaming experience, but not all of them are worth trying out. Before we end, let me give you one last piece of advice: if you're having issues with the FPS rate, stay as far away as you can from games in beta as they usually are very badly optimized.

Boost your Windows 10 PC for gaming

Reviewed by Wanem Club on October 12, 2017 Rating: 5

How to get Google Assistant on your Windows, Mac, or Linux Machine

Wanem Club October 11, 2017

Google Assistant is Google’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa smart home assistant. Initially only available with limited functionality in the Google Allo application, Google Assistant later rolled out with the Google Home and Pixel smartphones to bring the full power of Google’s assistant to consumers.

After a few months of waiting, smartphones running Android 6.0+ also received Google Assistant, and just a few days ago Google launched the Google Assistant SDK which allows Assistant to be run on basically any platform. Today, we will show you how to install Google Assistant onto your Windows, Mac, or Linux machine using Python.

Note: at this point in time, this is purely for educational purposes. There’s no fancy GUI for you to play with, and installing Assistant requires you to use the command line.

Get Google Assistant on Windows/Mac/Linux Machines

Requirements:

Python 3

You’ll need to have Python installed no matter whether or not you are using Windows, macOS, or a GNU/Linux distribution. Installation is fairly simple and already well-documented by the Python wiki, so we won’t go into many details about getting Python up and running on your machine.

Once you’ve got Python working on your machine (you can confirm it is working by opening up a terminal/command prompt and then simply typing python.) If you see the terminal/command prompt return the current Python version on your computer, then you’re golden.

Next, before we can install the necessary files to get Google Assistant working, we need to enable access to the Google Assistant API in the Google Cloud Platform Console.

Configure the Google Assistant API

What follows are step-by-step instructions walking you through the process to enable the Google Assistant API in the Cloud Platform Console so you can access Google Assistant through the Python program. All of these steps are platform independent, meaning that the steps are the same for Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux users.

Go to the Projects page in the Google Cloud Platform Console.
Click on “Create Project” up top.
Name the Project “My Google Assistant” and click “Create.”
Wait a few seconds for the Console to create your new Project. You should see a spinning progress icon in the top right. After it is done creating your Project, you will be brought to your Project’s configuration page.
Click this link to go straight to the Google Assistant API page. Up top, click “Enable.”
Google will warn you that you need to create credentials to use this API. Click “Create credentials” in the top right. This will take you to a setup wizard page where Google helps you figure out what kind of credentials you need to use this API.
Under “where will you be calling the API from”, select “Other UI (e.g. Windows, CLI tool)“. For “what data will you be accessing” select the “User data” circle. Now tap “what credentials do I need?”
Google should recommend that you create an OAuth 2.0 client ID. Name the Client ID anything you want, for example, your name + Desktop. Once done picking a name, click “create client ID.”
Under “product name shown to users” enter “My Google Assistant.” Click continue.
Click “done.” There’s no need to click download here as we only need the client secret, which we will download next.
Now under the list of OAuth 2.0 client IDs, you should see the client ID you just made. All the way to the right, click on the download icon to download the client_secret_XXX.json file, where ‘XXX’ is your client ID. Save this file anywhere on your computer, ideally in a new folder called “googleassistant.”
Go to the Activity controls page for your Google account and make sure that “Web & App Activity”, “Location History”, “Device Information”, and “Voice & Audio Activity” are enabled. This is so Google Assistant can actually read you personalized information.

We have now created a mechanism for a client, in this case our Windows/Mac/Linux machine, to access the Google Assistant API under our Google account. Next we need to set up the client that will access the Google Assistant API.

Install the Google Assistant Sample Python Project

Although Google recommends that you set up Python virtual environments to isolate the Google Assistant SDK and its dependencies from other Python system packages, we’re going to skip this step as it’s unlikely that you’ll play around with this for more than a few minutes. You can easily go back to the Cloud Platform Console and disable the API if you’re worried about the potential for other programs to access your Google account.

Open up a terminal/command prompt window and go through the following steps. First, enter this command:

py -m pip install google-assistant-sdk[samples]


You should see a whole bunch of dependencies being downloaded and installed when you enter this command. These are needed for the sample Python project to work. Wait for it to finish.

Once it’s done, next enter the following command (make sure to adjust the path):
py -m googlesamples.assistant.auth_helpers --client-secrets path\to\your\client_secret_XXX.apps.googleusercontent.com.json
In the command prompt, you will see a response telling you to visit a URL in order to authorize the application.
Copy and paste this URL into your browser. Select the same Google account that you used to configure the Google Assistant API. On the next page, you will see a text box that contains your client’s Access Token.
Copy that Access token and paste it into the command prompt where it asks you for the authorization code. If done correctly, you will see a response that your credentials have been saved.

Test the Google Assistant

The first thing you’ll want to test is whether or not Google Assistant is able to record audio from your microphone. Enter the following command into a command prompt, which will record 5 seconds of audio and play it back to you:
python -m googlesamples.assistant.audio_helpers

If you hear your audio played back to you, then enter this command to begin talking to Google Assistant:
python -m googlesamples.assistant

Wait for the command prompt to say “press Enter to send a new request”, then press Enter to begin talking to Google Assistant. After you’re done speaking, the command prompt will display a transcript of what you just stated and then play back the response. If you see a warning afterwards, just ignore it.

Have fun playing with Google Assistant on your Windows, macOS, or GNU/Linux machine! I played with it for only a few minutes before getting bored with it. It’s not particularly useful in this format, but it is a very quick demonstration of the possibilities that the new Google Assistant SDK represents. Perhaps we may see desktop apps or browser extensions taking advantage of this functionality in the near future.