Tag: Windows

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Tech

The NoxPlayer Android Emulator for PC: How Good Is the Software?

Photo by Onur Binay on Unsplash

Even though Windows 11 has made it a lot easier for users to run Android games and apps directly on their laptop or desktop PC, that’s not a strong enough argument for people to make the upgrade to Microsoft’s latest operating system. Windows 11 still has its flaws, and plenty of folks out there are concerned about their privacy if they use the operating system.

That’s why third-party apps might represent a better option when it comes to emulating your favorite Android games and apps on a Windows laptop/PC. Luckily, there are lots of options out there, and you are free to choose the one that suits your needs and desires the most. However, NoxPlayer managed to catch our attention, as it seems like a very good option for anybody who’s looking for a powerful and straightforward Android emulator. Let’s see why:

A friendly and intuitive user interface

NoxPlayer should be able to install smoothly and rapidly on any device. It has a very friendly and intuitive interface, although all those buttons on the right might pose a few challenges if you’re not used to the icons. But as soon as you hover over the mouse a bit and find out what each of the buttons can do, you should easily remember that info. For instance, there are buttons for making print screens and opening multiple instances at once.

All of the Android games and apps you install will appear on the front page of the emulator, similarly to how programs/apps appear as desktop icons in Windows. In other words, you won’t have trouble while trying to locate those apps in NoxPlayer, as the emulator was built in such a way that it showcases the apps easily.

If you don’t like to see the Android apps and games in the NoxPlayer emulator itself, you can easily add them to your desktop as well, in exactly the same way you keep your other programs from your computer. When you click on those apps/games on your desktop, the NoxPlayer app will automatically launch and open the software. This simple operation can be done by first opening the app/game you need in your NoxPlayer, and hitting the last button from the low right side of NoxPlayer that says Create an app desktop shortcut. 

How’s the emulation

The emulation that NoxPlayer is capable of is smooth and efficient. It runs very well, and transparent buttons will appear on the display, matching those from the Android version. Personally, I’ve tested the eBay app on NoxPlayer, as I prefer using it over the desktop version due to the possibility of filtering the search results by the location of the products. I was surprised at how well NoxPlayer does its job, and I’ve also put the emulator to the test on SnapSeed and World of Tanks Blitz. Some freezes occurred at some point with these apps, but I assume it was a problem with the apps themselves, not the emulator. I’ve also tested the EZVIZ app which allows me to see my room through my surveillance camera, and it works as it does on my Android device.

Probably the best part about the NoxPlayer emulator is that it’s free to use. It won’t cost you a dime to use it, and you will have the chance to emulate pretty much all your favorite Android apps and games.

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Tech

Is Windows 7 Microsoft’s Best Operating System Ever?

Photo by Itadaki on Unsplash

Windows 7 is now 14 years old, and it stopped receiving technical support from Microsoft in January 2020. But even so, many companies out there still prefer running Windows 7 on their computer, not to mention that there are numerous folks who still prefer to cling to the good ol’ operating system.

Despite its venerable age, Windows 7 is still preferred by many today, and at least for its time, it was considered Microsoft’s best operating system ever released. But why would someone consider that about such an old and apparently obsolete operating system? Let’s find out:

“It just works”

Some sources claim that Steve Jobs once said about Windows 7 that “it just works.” Whether it’s true or not, it represents the essence of what could be said best about the 14-year-old operating system. It’s stable and mature, and that’s all you can want if you don’t care about some little tech gimmicks that are present on Windows 10 or 11.

Although Windows 7 was built upon the foundation of Windows Vista, it addressed many of its predecessor’s problems. Windows 7 rapidly gained a reputation for reliability and stability, providing a smoother experience than ever for the users.

Performance efficiency

Windows 7 was built in a way that was more efficient with the resources compared to its predecessor, Windows Vista. At its release, Windows 7 was able to run well on multiple hardware configurations. Pretty much any computer that can go online can run Windows 7 nowadays, although we need to keep in mind that many of the new laptops and desktop PCs on the market have a built-in restriction in case you want to install Windows versions older than Windows 10. But there should be a way to overcome that restriction somehow.

Longevity

Longevity is a very important aspect of an operating system if we want to assess how efficient it is. The mainstream support for Windows 7 ended in 2015, while extended support continued until January 2020. Microsoft understood that Windows 7 had a huge fanbase, which determined them to offer extended support, allowing users and businesses to rely on the operating system for an extended period of time without the pressure of opting for an upgrade.

User-friendly interface

This part might be subjective, but very few people could possibly deny that Windows 7 has a friendly interface. The corners and the margins had a very pleasant and smooth appearance, appearing transparent with a shade of light blue for the default colors. For Windows 7, Microsoft refined the Windows Aero visual style and introduced the Superbar, which is now known as the taskbar. Features such as Snap and Aero Peek also contributed to the friendly interface of Windows 7.

Windows 7 users also had the possibility to change the theme into a more modern or even retro one if that’s what they wanted, which is always a nice feature for any operating system out there.

Ultimately, saying for sure which Windows version is the best can be purely subjective, but nobody can deny that Windows 7 offered some amazing advantages for its time. It is still preferred today by some netizens to the detriment of Windows 11 or Windows 10, believe it or not.

 

Categories
Games News Tech

How to Speed Up Windows PC for Gaming

Are you an avid gamer? Do you want to improve your gaming experience on PC? Follow through this tutorial.

To enjoy optimum gaming experience today, you need a powerful PC, with standard system specifications. However, irrespective of how standard your PC is, consoles are generally better.

Nevertheless, you can give your PC a facelift to obtain an almost similar experience (to consoles), particularly in the area of improved FPS rate and near-perfect graphical display.

Want to know more? Go to the next section.

How to Speed PC for Gaming

Basically, when we talk of PC gaming, graphics cards (GPU) are practically the most essential components. And irrespective of the sophistication of the tweaks/tricks applied. there is an attainable limit, depending on the build (specs) of your PC.

In any case, below are some of the tricks you can try to speed up your PC:

  1. Update Graphics Drivers

This is highly essential, as your graphics cards determine the frame-per-second (FPS) rate of your PC. And with updated graphics drivers, you get a significant FPS boost.

Graphics drivers can easily be updated from the manufacturer’s website. However, for some reasons, many computer users do not even know which graphics card(s) is on their respective PCs. To check, simply go to: Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Device Manager > Display adapters. The graphics cards would be displayed underneath.

Update NVIDIA drivers here, and AMD/ATI Radeon here.

  1. Disable Windows Superfetch and Prefetcher

These two features are primarily designed to improve performance on PCs. However, they tend to slow down the loading speed (and increase loading time) of high-end games and other apps. Hence, if you are a regular PC gamer, this features are better disabled.

Disable Superfetch:

  • Click on Start (Windows icon).
  • In the “Start” menu, select Control Panel.
  • Go to System and Security.
  • Select Administrative Tools
  • Click on Services.
  • Find and double click on Superfetch.
  • Select Disabled.
  • Click OK to apply changes.
  • Exit program.

Disable Prefetcher:

  • Open Registry Editor: click on “Windows + R” keys; type in “regedit” in the pop up dialog box and click “Enter”.
  • Go to the following registry entry:
  • ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory ManagementPrefetchParameters’.
  • Locate and double click on the ‘EnablePreFetcher’ entry.
  • Set its value to ‘0’ to disable it.

  1. Defragment HDD

You can run this procedure using the “Disk Defragmenter” tool: Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. And follow the prompt commands to finish the process. This will significantly improve the loading rate of your games.

For better performance, however, you can upgrade to a Solid State Drive (SSD), which reduces the loading time of games. And to further improve performance, you can “trim” the SSD.

Other Methods

  • Free up storage space.
  • Reduce background processes/running apps.
  • Supercharge graphics cards.
  • Allocate more RAM to favorite games.
  • And more.
Categories
Markets News Tech

How to Make Windows XP Run Faster

Are you still running the old Windows XP on your PC? This tutorial will show you how to make it run faster.

Windows XP is five generations behind: it’s been succeeded by Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10. Frankly, it’s not ideal for running standard modern-day functions. And to make matters worse, it’s highly prone to low memory – RAM – space issue, which significantly reduces system’s running speed.

In any case, if you are looking to speed up your old Win XP PC, follow through this tutorial.

How to Make Windows XP Run Faster

Below are some tips that can be employed/adapted to make WinXP run faster.

  1. Restart computer regularly

This should resolve minor lag issues, as the system is refreshed and all temporary files are cleared.

  1. Clean up disk storage

To do this:

  • Go to Start menu;
  • Click on Run and type in “cleanmgr.exe” in the run dialog box;
  • Click OK and then finish the cleanup.

  1. Reduce startup programs

Running multiple startup programs, especially on a low RAM space (typical of WinXP), often results in reduced system performance.

To reduce startup programs, go under “System Configuration” and disable/enable desired startup programs.

  1. Scan for viruses/malwares/ransomeware/spywares

If your PC is acting funny and the running speed is reduced, there is possibility of a virus attack. Hence, download and install a standard anti-malware program to scan and clear the viruses.

  1. Clean up system

If your PC becomes cluttered/congested with too many files and/or apps, your system’s performance would reduce. To resolve this, perform a clean up once in a while.

You can remove temporary files and other less relevant files/apps from your system. For better performance, you can employ a third-party clean up program like CCleaner.

  1. Adjust Visual Effects settings

Go to the “Performance Options” window under “Control Panel” and select the “Adjust for best performance” option. This will reduce the graphics effects of your PC, and your system would run much faster.

  1. Defragment hard disk

You can use Windows Disk Defragmenter to do this. However, under no circumstance should you apply this on computers with SSDs (solid state drives).

Closing Note

There’s a limit to how fast Windows XP computers can run, irrespective of the tweaks and changes applied to it. Hence, for better performance, you may have to upgrade to a newer version, preferably Windows 7.

Hope you find this post helpful?

Categories
News Tech

Stellar Windows Data Recovery Offers Better Results than EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free

Nearly every important data we have is stored on our computers, and considering that Windows is the most popular OS used globally, it’s no wonder that it is also the one that it is extensively mishandled, attacked by viruses, formatted or bugged, leading to data loss. Instead of panicking, there’s a solution: use a data loss recovery software that can restore your lost data, no matter what it is – texts, audio, videos, and so on.

Here’s a great data recovery software from Stellar. We’ll see why the Free Edition of Stellar Windows Data Recovery is much better than the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free.

Stellar Windows Data Recovery Free Edition Versus EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free

Stellar Windows Data Recovery is a free recovery software that can recover lost or deleted data and formatted partitions from Windows. It recovers any type of file and folder, and users can even add more file types with no restriction whatsoever. It can recover the files from the system or from external drives that you connect – such as external hard drives, SD cards, USBs, and so on. The interface is user-friendly and is easy to use without any help. The service supports five languages and offers Unicode support.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free is also a powerful recovery software, that can recover different types of files from inside and outside your Windows OS (through a wired connection), just like Stellar Windows Data Recovery does. It supports nearly 20 languages.

But how do these two services compare in terms of features and requirements? Here are a couple of tables to see them side by side:

In terms of support and system requirements, supported file systems, Windows OS requirement, memory, and disk space, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free has the upper hand.

However, when it comes to features, it is where Stellar Windows Data Recovery (Free Edition) excels. Not only it offers various features, but it also recovers up to 1GB of data compared to EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard (Free) which only recovers up to 500 GB of data.

Stellar Windows Data Recovery comes with a deep scan, has a preview in three-pane structure, shows scan details, and gives you the option to select the type of data you want to recover. Meanwhile, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free software lacks these features.

If you’re looking for more features and don’t care about the system requirements, go for the software that has more features, which is Stellar Windows Data Recovery (Free Edition).

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