Microsoft Edge

Over time, we install a lot of software applications on our computers and many of these applications are specifically coded to automatically start after every reboot and run silently in the background. They consume a lot of system resources and can affect our computers’ performance over time. 

In this video, Krystal Son, Escalation Team Lead at Kite Technology shows you how to see which software applications are configured to run in the background and how to disable them from starting unless you specifically want to open the application. By taking a few minutes to look over the list and turn some of them off, you can squeeze more performance out of your computer.

Here are the steps for disabling applications from running in the background:

On your computer, you’re going to right click the Windows Start Button and select Task Manager.

Once this window pops up, make sure you select the Startup Tab.

Here is where you can see all the applications on your computer that are configured to automatically restart and run in the background every time your computer is rebooted.

So, you can look through the list and turn off any that you don’t need to automatically run in the background. This is not disabling them or uninstalling them from your system. It’s just telling it don’t run in the background unless I specifically call on you to open.

For example, if I turn off Adobe, it doesn’t mean that I’m uninstalling the application. I can still click on Adobe and look at PDFs anytime I want. It just means that Adobe is not going to be running in the background and consuming resources from my computer.

One important thing to note is that any file-syncing services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive – you want to make sure you keep those on because you want your files to always be saved and uploaded to the cloud.

Additionally, if you work in an insurance agency and you see anything listed here called ASI. whatever it is, make sure you keep that enabled. Those are specific services for Applied Epic and TAM to run successfully.

Once you’ve gone through your list and cleaned that up, all you need to do to make those changes take effect is reboot your computer. Just go back down to the Start Button, select the Power Button and Restart. That’s it!

We hope you found this tip helpful! If you’re a KiteTech client and would like some help with this, please contact our Help Desk and one of our technicians can assist you. 

If you’re not currently working with KiteTech and would like to learn more about our Managed IT or Consulting Services, please reach out and we’d be happy to schedule a conversation to learn more about your technology needs.

Close your eyes and think back to the early 2000’s. What was your web browser of choice?

According to major sources, if you browsed the web in the early 2000’s, there was a 75% chance you were using Microsoft Internet Explorer. The next decade would dethrone Microsoft as other browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari reduced Internet Explorer’s market share to less than 10%.

Microsoft needed to act – and fast!

In 2015 Microsoft introduced a new browser called Edge, which they hoped would help them earn back their spot at the top. This move was a clear indication that Internet Explorer did not have much of a future; Edge is the new future.

Luckily, Microsoft learned from their mistakes, and virtually everyone agrees that Edge is a huge improvement over Internet Explorer. This proves true in many aspects, such as better performance, enhanced security, and wider website compatibility.

But perhaps the most noteworthy improvement is the added productivity features now available in Microsoft Edge. By using just two of these new features which I will describe, I am confident that you can improve your workflows so you can get more done in less time with fewer headaches.

Vertical Tabs

The first feature is called Vertical Tabs. The term “tab” in web browsers, which has been around for a long time now, simply refers to an open web page; we can use multiple tabs to open several different web pages and keep them inside a single window.

Vertical Tabs is a new mode in Microsoft Edge that you can toggle on or off, and it offers a highly organized view of all the tabs you have open in Edge at any given time. You can even group tabs together into a “Tab Group”, which helps you keep related tabs under a common header. 

In my example, I have created three Tab Groups because my pages fit well into three distinct categories: Microsoft, KiteTech, and Microsoft Edge Article. You can collapse a Tab Group to hide its pages if you aren’t actively using them, like I did with KiteTech in my example.

To enable vertical tabs, click on the icon in the top-left corner of the window and then click “Turn on vertical tabs”.

Collections

The second feature, called “Collections”, adds a unique way of organizing not only web pages, but also other media like images and notes. A Collection is almost like a scrapbook for your ideas. You can combine all the different kinds of pieces that make up your idea and store them in Microsoft Edge where you can continue working on it.

Take this article for example. To write it, I needed a few things: a guide to help me remember my purpose for writing and target audience; a few general requirements to keep in mind; several web pages for research; and of course, the article document itself. Rather than try to keep all this information on a place like my desktop (or worse, inside my head), I added all the relevant content into a Collection which I titled “Microsoft Edge Article”. I did not write this entire article in one sitting, so my Collection helped me pick up right where I left off when I came back to my computer and opened Microsoft Edge. When I am done, I may delete that collection, but it surely is serving me well now while I am still working on it.

To access Collections, click the 3 dots menu  in the top-right and click on Collections. You can also choose to right-click on the Collections option and choose “Show in toolbar” to keep it visible in your Edge window at all times (see screenshot to the right).

Finally, while each of these features offers massive value on its own, I am particularly fond of how they combine to help you work better.

If you are browsing the web and opening several related web pages, you can click the Vertical Tabs menu and choose “Add all tabs to Collections”. This will create a new Collection containing all open web pages, and from there you can continue to fill that Collection with other related materials.

After you fill a Collection with web pages, you can right-click that Collection and choose “Open all”, and all the web pages in that Collection open under a Tab Group. Again, this may be useful if a project will take multiple sittings; by combining related web pages, you can easily continue right where you left off.

To tell the truth, the research that went into writing this article has even opened my eyes to some functionality I didn’t know existed in Microsoft Edge. I am hopeful that you will be able to include some of these techniques in your workflows and improve your productivity.

To learn more about KiteTech’s Managed IT and Consulting Services, please don’t hesitate to reach out and schedule a conversation. We’d love the opportunity to get to know you and your business and discover how we can help you meet your technology needs.