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Just like smartphones use our physical location to recommend shops and restaurants or help us with directions, Windows does the same thing. However, Smartphones using our physical location make sense as it asks for location permission. But how does Windows find my location automatically? Most computers do not come with GPS, which can help the computer to detect our location. Well, if you have been thinking the same, then in this post, I will be explaining everything you need to know about Windows location usage.
How does Windows find my location automatically?As per Microsoft, there are a few key factors that help them to find your exact location. These key factors are GPS, nearby wifi hotspots, IP addresses, or cell towers.
Using these details, Windows can determine the precise geographic location of your Windows device so it can recommend related news, shops, or places to visit.
However, Windows’s accuracy in finding your physical location depends on your device capabilities. For instance, if it comes with a GPS, it will be easier for Windows to know your actual location. If there is no GPS, it will use other methods which might not be accurate enough to know your location.
Also, if your location service is enabled, your Windows PC will share details like a wireless access point, cellular owner, and precise GPS location to Microsoft. Then Microsoft will use your shared data to improve its location service. Also, the data gets shared with Microsoft’s location service providers like HERE and Skyhook in some instances.
Also, Microsoft shares your location information with apps that require location information. But you can always allow and disallow apps that access your location information.
But if you don’t share your location service with other apps, they will still have access to it. But the location data will have lower accuracy.
How to Manage location settings in Windows?Follow these suggestions to manage Location settings in Windows. Be aware that changing settings do affect the overall experience. However, it is true if you are using location-based apps.
Location Service
Location History
Default Location
You will not need an administrator account to get these done. Every user can set its location service.
1] Location Service
Go to Windows Setting using Win + I.
Over here, you will find two settings.
The first setting is location services; you can keep it turned on/off depending on your needs. If you keep it turned on, the location will be available to Windows and anyone using your computer.
Once you enable Location services, you will get the second option: Let apps access your location. Using this, you can allow or disallow apps that can access your location information.
Once you change the settings, apps and browsers will behave based on these settings.
Read: How to turn on or off Location Scripting on Windows.
2] Location HistoryAs mentioned earlier, Windows does share your location info with specific Windows apps and services. However, when the location setting is one, the location looked up by apps or services will be stored on the device for 24 hours and then deleted.
You can easily find this app on the location settings page. Apps that use location service will be labeled as Uses location history.
To clear location history, you can follow the below steps:
Use Win + I to open Windows Settings
It will delete location history from Apps that had accessed the history before it was cleared.
3] Default LocationWindows gives you the option to set a default location. The default location will be used when Windows fails to detect the precise location. To set it, follow the below steps:
Go to Settings.
It will launch the Windows Maps app.
From there, choose your default location, and you are good to go.
Conclusion
So that was all about how Windows find your location automatically and how you can manage your location settings. So go ahead and check the Windows location settings out.
You may choose as per your usage. If you are too concerned about your location, we suggest using a VPN and strict browser settings instead of changing Windows.
Should I allow Windows to track my location?It entirely depends on what features you are using on your Windows machine. For instance, if you use Windows maps and other location-based apps, you will need to allow Windows to track your location. But if your activities do not include anything related to location, then there is no need to allow Windows to know your physical location.
Read: How to turn on or off Location Scripting on Windows 11/10
Is it safe to allow Browsers to find my location?Read: How to Disable Geolocation in Firefox, Chrome, and Edge.
Why is my PC location wrong?There can be multiple reasons for this. Either Windows settings don’t allow the apps or browser to find the location, or ISP is offering an incorrect location. One of the ways Windows finds the PC location is by enquiring about the server location of the ISP. If the server is not around your location and in a different city, this can also result in an incorrect location.
Also read: How to change or set Device usage in Windows 11
Why does my PC IP show a different location on the Internet?It’s because of the ISP, or you are using a VPN. Any location service queries the ISP or the Server through which you are connected and gets the location. The only way out is to allow the apps to get accurate location when they prompt about it. But that is also not foolproof.
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How To Stop Windows 10 From Automatically Sleeping Or Locking
From saving on bills to simply trying to get the most out of your laptop’s battery, putting your machine into a low-power state can help. Some users, however, prefer to have their system alert and awake all the time, which unfortunately clashes with how Windows 10 likes to put the computer to sleep if you leave it idle for too long. Having to constantly wake up and unlock the computer can get on people’s nerves; so how do you disable it?
Stopping the SleepOn the right side you’ll see several options regarding power saving. Feel free to tweak these if you see any settings you’d like to change, but for the sake of this article we’ll focus on the “Sleep” category.
You may see more or less options depending on what kind of machine you’re using, but regardless of how many there are, setting all of these to “Never” will stop the computer from sleeping completely. If you use a laptop, you can set it to never sleep while plugged into the mains but still sleep when on battery power.
Third-Party AppsBut let’s assume for a minute that you can’t access these power options. Perhaps you’re currently using an account where the settings are locked out, such as a work computer. If this sounds like you, don’t fret; there are solutions you can use via third-party apps. These will help keep the computer awake even if you can’t manually set the option in Windows 10.
Don’t SleepDon’t Sleep is a portable app that allows users to stop Windows 10 from sleeping. “Portable” means that it doesn’t require an installation to run, allowing you to save it to a memory stick and run it on any machine. This makes it a useful tool to carry with you if you’re using multiple computers where you can’t edit the power options.
To use it, simply run the executable. Everything should be set up ready to use “out of the box,” but just to make sure, check that the options you want to block are checked under the “Block” category and that the blocker is set to “Enabled.”
You can tell Don’t Sleep to only work within a specific time frame and even instruct it on what to do when the time is up.
CaffeineCaffeine is another lightweight, portable option that you can use to stop Windows 10 from sleeping. The idea behind Caffeine is that every 59 seconds it simulates an F15 key press on your computer, so it believes you’re still at the machine and typing and won’t lock as a result. There should be nothing on your computer that is waiting for the F15 key to be pressed, but if anything weird does begin to happen, you’ll know what’s causing it!
Running Caffeine is as simple as downloading, unzipping, and running the executable. A little coffee pitcher icon will sit in your system tray showing that Caffeine is currently running.
No More SleepHaving a computer go to sleep automatically can be annoying, especially if you can’t get permission to access the power options on the computer. Now you know how to stop Windows 10 from sleeping, either through the official settings or via a portable third-party app.
Simon Batt
Simon Batt is a Computer Science graduate with a passion for cybersecurity.
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How Much Ram Does Windows 11 Use?
How Much RAM Does Windows 11 Use? [Memory Requirements] Find out what experts have to say about the latest iteration
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Windows 11 has many features that require more RAM, compared to the previous iteration, to function effectively.
Though the minimum RAM requirement for Windows 11 is just 4 GB, you might need more memory to run programs and apps.
Find out whether 8 GB of RAM is good enough for a Windows 11 PC.
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This tool repairs common computer errors by replacing the problematic system files with the initial working versions. It also keeps you away from system errors, BSoDs, and repairs damages made by malware and viruses. Fix PC issues and remove viruses damage now in 3 easy steps:
Download and Install Fortect on your PC
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Does Windows 11 consume more RAM? It’s a question that requires an in-depth understanding of the idea, the computer’s use, and several other critical factors. In general, Windows 11 does use more memory, though it might not be the case for everyone.
If you had a PC running Windows 10 and recently upgraded to Windows 11, the RAM consumption might be higher. But why is that, and can you reduce the memory used in the latest iteration? Let’s find out the answer to these.
Why does Windows 11 consume so much RAM?Here are a few reasons Windows 11 consumes so much RAM on your PC:
More features – Windows 11 is a feature-loaded OS, and these are bound to use more RAM than the previous iteration. But it also ensures a better and safer user experience.
A higher number of built-in programs – The RAM consumption increases with the number of programs running. And since the latest OS has more built-in programs, referred to as the bloatware in Windows 11, it uses higher memory.
Graphics – When all the visual effects are enabled, the OS will consume higher resources. Though, you may disable animations in Windows 11 to reduce this.
How much RAM do I need for Windows 11?If we were to look at the system requirements for Windows 11, the latest iteration requires a minimum of 4 GB Random Access Memory to install on a device. Remember, it’s the minimum requirement for just running the OS.
Launch a few programs on a PC running Windows 11 with 4 GB of memory, and the device will slow down, apps may start crashing, and in the worst case, you won’t be able to use it at all. So, when upgrading to the latest iteration, ensure the PC has at least 8 GB RAM.
How much RAM does Windows 11 use when idle?Based on feedback from users, our reader, and through in-depth research, it seems like Windows 11 uses around 2.5-3 GB of memory in an idle state. But remember, what you consider an idle state is not the same for the PC.
It still has several background processes and services running. More so, the startup programs are launched as soon as Windows boots and will consume some resources.
Is 8GB of RAM enough for Windows 11?8GB of memory should be good when running Windows 11 and a few simple programs and browsers. But, for resource-intensive tasks like gaming or running editing apps, you will need more RAM.
Task Manager on a PC running Windows 11 with 16 GB RAM
Google Chrome, for instance, uses a lot of memory, so you might consider switching to a lightweight browser. Other similar changes, too, will help bring the RAM consumption in check.
Windows 11 RAM usage vs. Windows 10Windows 11 does use more RAM than Windows 10, and it’s due to more built-in programs and features. It can be reduced, but we don’t recommend terminating the critical processes or disabling services vital for the effective functioning of the OS.
What can I do if Windows 11 consumes more RAM?Though the problem is not encountered by many, you can quickly fix high RAM usage in Windows 11 if that is the case.
So, if you were earlier wondering whether Windows 11 does use more resources, the answer is Yes. And you now know the reasons behind it as well as ways to reduce RAM usage.
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How To Find Windows Experience Index Scores In Windows 8.1
The Windows Experience Index benchmark tool has been around in Windows since Microsoft first introduced it in Windows Vista. For those of who are not familiar with the tool, what it essentially does is measure your PC’s performance and breaks it down into five main categories: processor, memory, graphics, gaming graphics and hard disk.
The Windows Experience Index isn’t really known to accurately measure the performance of PCs, but if you’re comparing your system with other PCs, it can be quite a useful tool to identify hardware deficiencies.
Starting with Windows 8.1, Microsoft decided to remove the graphical interface to the Windows Experience Index. What this essentially means is that this isn’t available in Windows 8.1 anymore:
The underlying benchmark utility which measured the PC’s performance is however still available in Windows 8.1. This utility, known as the Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT), can be used to find your PC’s performance; you just need to type a couple of commands from the command line.
2. Once your Command Prompt is open, type in
winsat prepopand press Enter. This will run the benchmark and store the results on your PC as XML files. Depending on your PC processor, this may take anywhere from 10 seconds to 2 minutes.
3. Once that’s done, open the Windows Powershell as administrator.
Once it’s open, type in
Get-WmiObject-Class
Win32_WinSATand hit Enter on your keyboard. This will analyze the results in the XML files we created earlier, then present them as scores for each category.
Here’s what everything actually is:
CPUScore is the score for the processors on the PC.
D3DScore is the score for the 3D graphics capabilities of the PC.
DiskScore is the score for the sequential read throughput on the system hard disk.
GraphicsScore is the score for the graphics capabilities of the PC.
MemoryScore is the score for the memory throughput and capacity of the PC.
That’s it. If you’re looking for your base score, look at the number next to “WinSPRLevel”, which is just the lowest score of the five categories.
Shujaa Imran
Shujaa Imran is MakeTechEasier’s resident Mac tutorial writer. He’s currently training to follow his other passion become a commercial pilot. You can check his content out on Youtube
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How To Stop Discord From Automatically Lowering App Volume On Windows 11.
If you are using Discord and have noticed that it takes control of your system volume settings and automatically increases or decreases volume levels at times. This article will show you how to disable Discord Attenuation, a feature that aims to better manage system volume levels while you have incoming and outgoing voice communications active.
Related: How to fix Xbox app Game Pass showing PLAY WITH GAME PASS not Install or Play.
Discord is a super popular gaming and communication app that allows people to stay up to date on their favourite topics and keep in touch with everyone who has joined their community. It’s an easy-to-use tool though it does have more options than the average person will ever use or even understand. That said, there are some options and features that you should familiarise yourself with.
Depending on how you use Discord you may have noticed that whenever you have Discord open the volume levels of other software and apps you have open changes. This is because Discord uses a feature called Attenuation which aims to adjust volumes to get better environments for voice chat. While this is handy in a lot of circumstances, it can also be annoying as you have obviously already experienced. The good news is that there are a couple of ways you can disable the option.
How do you stop Discord from automatically lowering the volume on Windows 10 & 11?
The quickest and easiest way to prevent Discord from changing volume levels for other apps while using it is to disable Attenuation. To do this follow the steps below.
In the new window that appears, change to the Voice & Video tab on the left.
Now scroll down the list until you find the ATTENUATION section. Here you will see several different options along with a slider. If you want to completely disable the feature slide the slider to 0.
Alternatively, you can adjust the slider to find a perfect balance and you can also enable or disable ATTENUATION for you speaking and others speaking.
Once you have made the changes they will take effect instantly. You can go back and change them at any time you please.
Disabling Attenuation in Discord doesn’t fix the problem?
If Discord isn’t listening to your request to disable Attenuation you can prevent Discord and other apps from having access to sound device options. To do this follow the steps below.
Next, find the audio device that you are using. If you have multiple devices, you will need to do follow these steps for each of them.
Finally, change to the Advanced tab and remove the tick from the Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.
After a quick system restart, you won’t have any issues with Discord doing whatever it wants with sound. If you’re looking for More Discord guides, you can check out our entire library here. Alternatively, there is also our YouTube channel.
How To Find Deviceharddiskvolume3, 4, 5 In Windows 11/10
When working with Windows operating systems, it’s common to encounter error messages that reference specific hard disk volumes, such as DeviceHarddiskVolume3. These references may seem confusing at first, but they’re actually quite simple to understand and use.
In this article, we’ll explain what these references mean and provide a comprehensive guide on how to tell which drive each hard disk volume refers to in Windows 11 or Windows 10. The step-by-step instructions will enable you to locate the specific device or volume path needed to resolve any file access events issues.
Before we dive into how to find hard disk volume references in Windows, it’s important to understand what they are and why they’re used.
Also see: How to Hide a Drive in Windows 11
In Windows, hard disk volumes are used to organize data on physical hard drives. Each volume is assigned a unique reference, such as:
DeviceHarddiskVolume3
DeviceHarddiskVolume4
DeviceHarddiskVolume5
DeviceHarddiskVolume1
DeviceHarddiskVolume2
DeviceHarddiskVolume6
This reference is used to identify the volume and access its contents.
When troubleshooting issues with Windows, you may encounter error messages that reference a specific hard disk volume. For example, you might see an error message like this:
This error message is telling you that the Windows operating system can’t find the svchost.exe file on the third hard disk volume. To fix the issue, you’ll need to locate the volume and the file.
Related issue: Service Host Local System (svchost.exe) High CPU, Disk or Memory Usage
Now that we understand what hard disk volume references are, let’s take a look at how to find the hard disk volume number and tell which drive each volume is referring to in Windows 11/10.
This method provides you with a comprehensive list of all device names and their corresponding volume paths on your local machine. It leverages PowerShell to query the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) class Win32_Volume for the drive letter and then uses the QueryDosDevice function from the Kernel32 module to obtain the device path.
To list all the drive letters and their corresponding hard disk volume numbers on your Windows system, follow these steps:
Open Notepad and paste the following PowerShell script: $DynAssembly = New-Object System.Reflection.AssemblyName('SysUtils') $AssemblyBuilder = [AppDomain]::CurrentDomain.DefineDynamicAssembly($DynAssembly, [Reflection.Emit.AssemblyBuilderAccess]::Run) $ModuleBuilder = $AssemblyBuilder.DefineDynamicModule('SysUtils', $False) $TypeBuilder = $ModuleBuilder.DefineType('Kernel32', 'Public, Class') $PInvokeMethod = $TypeBuilder.DefinePInvokeMethod('QueryDosDevice', 'kernel32.dll', ([Reflection.MethodAttributes]::Public -bor [Reflection.MethodAttributes]::Static), [Reflection.CallingConventions]::Standard, [UInt32], [Type[]]@([String], [Text.StringBuilder], [UInt32]), [Runtime.InteropServices.CallingConvention]::Winapi, [Runtime.InteropServices.CharSet]::Auto) $DllImportConstructor = [Runtime.InteropServices.DllImportAttribute].GetConstructor(@([String])) $SetLastError = [Runtime.InteropServices.DllImportAttribute].GetField('SetLastError') $SetLastErrorCustomAttribute = New-Object Reflection.Emit.CustomAttributeBuilder($DllImportConstructor, @('kernel32.dll'), [Reflection.FieldInfo[]]@($SetLastError), @($true)) $PInvokeMethod.SetCustomAttribute($SetLastErrorCustomAttribute) $Kernel32 = $TypeBuilder.CreateType() $Max = 65536 $StringBuilder = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder($Max) $ReturnLength = $Kernel32::QueryDosDevice($_.DriveLetter, $StringBuilder, $Max) if ($ReturnLength) { $DriveMapping = @{ DriveLetter = $_.DriveLetter DevicePath = $StringBuilder.ToString() } New-Object PSObject -Property $DriveMapping } }
Save the Notepad file with a .ps1 extension, such as List-drives-and-hard-disk-volumes.ps1.
Run the List-drives-and-hard-disk-volumes.ps1 script from PowerShell to list all drive letters and their corresponding hard disk volume paths on your Windows 11 or Windows 10 system.
Recommended resource: Run CMD, PowerShell or Regedit as SYSTEM in Windows 11
To run the List-drives-and-hard-disk-volumes.ps1 script from PowerShell, follow these steps:
Change the execution policy (if needed): By default, PowerShell may not allow you to run scripts due to its restrictive execution policy. To change the execution policy, type the following command and press Enter: Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
When prompted, type Y and press Enter to confirm the change. This command allows you to run scripts that you created or downloaded from the internet, as long as they are signed by a trusted publisher.
Navigate to the script’s location: Use the cd command to navigate to the directory where you saved the “List-drives-and-hard-disk-volumes.ps1” script. For example, if you saved the script in the Desktop directory, type the following command and press Enter: cd C:UsersusernameDesktop
Replace the username with your actual user name in your Windows system.
Run the script: Type the following command and press Enter to run the List-drives-and-hard-disk-volumes.ps1 script: .List-drives-and-hard-disk-volumes.ps1
The script will execute and display the device names and their corresponding volume paths for all the drives on your local machine.
Set the execution policy back to its default value: After running the script, it’s recommended to set the execution policy back to its default value. To do this, type the following command and press Enter: Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted
Remember, you need to have administrative privileges to run the script, as it accesses system-level information.
Useful tip: How to Merge Two Drives in Windows 11
Here’s a more detailed explanation of what the script does:
The script first creates a dynamic assembly called ‘SysUtils’ and defines a P/Invoke method for calling the QueryDosDevice function from the Kernel32 module.
It sets the maximum length of the StringBuilder object to 65536, which allows it to store the device path information.
The script then uses Get-WmiObject to query the Win32_Volume class for drive letter information. It filters the results to include only objects with a drive letter.
For each drive letter, the script calls the QueryDosDevice function with the drive letter as the input. The function returns the length of the device path string, which is then used to create an object containing the drive letter and device path.
Finally, the script outputs the device letter and device path for each drive.
Similar problem: Hard Drive Doesn’t Show Up After Clone in Windows 11
This method allows you to find the device path for a specific drive letter by using a similar approach as Method 1. However, instead of listing all the device names and their corresponding volume paths, this method prompts you for a single drive letter and returns its device path.
To display the device path for a given device name (drive letter), use the following PowerShell script:
Open Notepad and paste the following PowerShell script: $driveLetter = Read-Host "Enter Drive Letter:" Write-Host " " $DynAssembly = New-Object System.Reflection.AssemblyName('SysUtils') $AssemblyBuilder = [AppDomain]::CurrentDomain.DefineDynamicAssembly($DynAssembly, [Reflection.Emit.AssemblyBuilderAccess]::Run) $ModuleBuilder = $AssemblyBuilder.DefineDynamicModule('SysUtils', $False) $TypeBuilder = $ModuleBuilder.DefineType('Kernel32', 'Public, Class') $PInvokeMethod = $TypeBuilder.DefinePInvokeMethod('QueryDosDevice', 'kernel32.dll', ([Reflection.MethodAttributes]::Public -bor [Reflection.MethodAttributes]::Static), [Reflection.CallingConventions]::Standard, [UInt32], [Type[]]@([String], [Text.StringBuilder], [UInt32]), [Runtime.InteropServices.CallingConvention]::Winapi, [Runtime.InteropServices.CharSet]::Auto) $DllImportConstructor = [Runtime.InteropServices.DllImportAttribute].GetConstructor(@([String])) $SetLastError = [Runtime.InteropServices.DllImportAttribute].GetField('SetLastError') $SetLastErrorCustomAttribute = New-Object Reflection.Emit.CustomAttributeBuilder($DllImportConstructor, @('kernel32.dll'), [Reflection.FieldInfo[]]@($SetLastError), @($true)) $PInvokeMethod.SetCustomAttribute($SetLastErrorCustomAttribute) $Kernel32 = $TypeBuilder.CreateType() $Max = 65536 $StringBuilder = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder($Max) $ReturnLength = $Kernel32::QueryDosDevice($driveLetter, $StringBuilder, $Max) if ($ReturnLength) { Write-Host "Device Path: "$StringBuilder.ToString() } else { Write-Host "Device Path: not found" } Write-Host " "
Save the Notepad file with a .ps1 extension, such as Get-device-path-from-drive-letter.ps1.
Run the Get-device-path-from-drive-letter.ps1 script from PowerShell. When prompted, enter the drive letter for which you want to retrieve the device path.
To learn how to run the .ps1 PowerShell script you’ve created, follow the instructions as stated in the previous method.
Here’s an overview of what the script does:
As in Method 1, the script creates a dynamic assembly called ‘SysUtils’ and defines a P/Invoke method for calling the QueryDosDevice function from the Kernel32 module.
The script prompts you to enter a drive letter by using the Read-Host command. Make sure to enter the drive letter without a trailing backslash (e.g., “C:”, not “C:”).
It sets the maximum length of the StringBuilder object to 65536, allowing it to store the device path information.
The script calls the QueryDosDevice function with the input drive letter. If the function is successful, it returns the length of the device path string.
If the QueryDosDevice function is successful, the script outputs the device path for the input drive letter. Otherwise, it displays a message indicating that the device path was not found.
These two methods provide flexible options for obtaining the hard disk volumes information in Windows 11 or 10. Method 1 is useful when you need a comprehensive list of all drive letters and their corresponding volume paths, while Method 2 is more targeted, allowing you to retrieve the hard disk volume path for a specific drive letter. Both methods use PowerShell scripts, making it easy to integrate them into your system management or troubleshooting workflows.
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