Plus, how many hours does Elon Musk work a week? Spoiler – it’s a lot. Allie’s got a trick to stop doom scrolling. And a shocking grandparent scam spreading. Plus, stick around for a moon TikTok trend and a heartwarming listener story about an Emu named Onion, written by ChatGPT.
Pro tip: How to speed up your Windows network connection
When you shell out mountains of cash for your network connection, you hope it will be fast enough for your needs. Unfortunately, high costs don’t always mean high quality. To make matters worse, searching the web for ways to speed up your Windows network connection churns out an endless mountain of potential fixes.
Want to save yourself a few hours you’d otherwise spend researching tech issues? We put together a list of some of the top IT questions we get from readers and solutions you can try for yourself. But when you’re specifically searching for ways to fix your network connection, it can be hard to find your starting point.
When you start testing ways to fix your Windows connection, you’ll soon find yourself trying trick after trick, wasting hours on unhelpful solutions. Luckily, we found a resolution backed by the pros at ExpressVPN, a trusted cybersecurity app that sponsors the show. Scroll down for details on the setting that optimizes your Windows network for better internet speeds.
Do this for lightning speed (well, almost)
Before starting, run an internet speed test to see what you’re working with. Tap or click here for the best free website to use. This will be helpful once you’ve made the tweaks we recommend below. You’ll notice all the minor changes that will later make a world of difference.
There are two easy ways to boost your speed. First, you can normalize the Receive Windows Auto-Tuning Level. This feature lets your operating system continually monitor routing conditions like delays from your network or applications.
It also checks your bandwidth. It helps your OS configure network connections to make the performance as good as possible. You’ll want to look it up and see which setting it’s turned on. There are a few different modes it may be on, but you’ll want to set it to “Normal.”
How to set Receive Windows Auto-Tuning Level to Normal
Prepare to get a little into the weeds. First, you’ll want to navigate to your Windows button and type cmd in the search bar. Select the Command Prompt that pops up. Your screen will look like this:
A new window will pop up. Copy and paste this command: netsh int tcp show global. Press enter and you’ll see your current level.
Your screen will look something like the example below. Notice that the auto-tuning level is listed as normal. For example:
🔄 Want to see which apps need updating on Windows? Open the Search bar, go to Command Prompt, then right-click and select Run as administrator. Next, type “winget upgrade” and hit Enter. You’ll get a list of apps with available updates. It’s also great for finding and deleting apps you haven’t used in a while. Whoa.
Windows 10 how-to: Roll back to a previous version
Having trouble with the latest Windows 10 update? Maybe it’s so bad, you wish you’d never updated your PC in the first place. In this Komando DIY, we walk you through how to roll back your Windows version.
🖥️ Keep your Windows desktop private: Whether you want a cleaner look or a little more privacy, you can hide your desktop icons in seconds. Right-click on the desktop > go to View > uncheck Show desktop icons. Want to resize them instead? Just go to View and pick Small, Medium or Large.
⚡ Power users like you: Microsoft PowerToys adds free, new features to your Windows PC. Peek gives you a quick preview of a file without opening it. If you’ve used a Mac, you can preview a file just by hitting the space bar. With Peek, select a file, press Ctrl + Space. Install PowerToys here.
You’re my favorite: Pin the apps you use most to your Windows Start menu. Open your app list, right click one, then pick Pin the Start. Drag them around to any order you want.