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In some Windows 11 Pro installation instances, which I won’t cover here to keep this article short, Windows 11 Pro will automatically enable BitLocker software based encryption on your solid state drive (SSD). Not sure if this auto-enabling occurs on traditional mechanical hard drives, let me know in the comments section.

The particular Windows 11 Pro installation on my Intel NUC 12 fell within the Microsoft threshold of auto-enabling the BitLocker software encryption. This was without my knowledge nor was I allowed to configure the encryption password or separately store the encryption key. My initial inspection leads me to believe that Microsoft simply uses your Microsoft Account password as the BitLocker encryption key but I have not confirmed this. Let me know in the comments section.

Also, when I originally setup my Windows 11 Pro installation, I used a local account instead of a Microsoft Account. I assume that when I accessed my Microsoft Account to connect my Microsoft 365 software (such as Word and OneDrive) Windows configured BitLocker at that time. I could be completely wrong, but the fact that BitLocker was enabled without my knowledge is a fact in my particular case.

It wasn’t until I discovered an article on Tom’s Hardware regarding “Windows Software BitLocker Slows Performance” that I became aware of a potential performance implication. In that article is covers how the BitLocker software encryption feature can slow an SSD by up to 45%.

This article will cover what I did in order to disable BitLocker software encryption on my SSD since I prefer daily maximum performance over the (in my opinion, false) sense of security provided by encrypting the data on my drive. Encrypting my data may also make data recovery more difficult should the need arise, but I may be incorrect there as well.

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This article will show you how to quickly and easily clear out your Open Network Stream history within the VLC Media Player on Windows.

Begin by locating the vlc-qt-interface.ini file which is stored within the “Roaming” directory under your user profile folder. See example below:

C:\Users\YourProfileName\AppData\Roaming\vlc\vlc-qt-interface.ini

Locate the area labeled: [RecentsMRL]

Under that area clear out the list variable by simply setting it to the following: list=””

Then locate the area labeled: [OpenDialog]

Clear out the netMRL variable by simply setting it to the following: netMRL=””

 

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There may be some situations when you want to restrict or redirect your website traffic by IP address. To accomplish this simply add the following lines of code to your website’s .htaccess file (assuming your website is on an Apache webserver):

 

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Microsoft has, yet again, proven it has no ability to be original or creative with their integration of a digital personal assistant, called Cortana, into Windows 10.

This new built-in feature is just as unhelpful as it is annoying. It’s like Microsoft doesn’t even use their own products. On top of that, it is yet another invasion of my privacy.

For those of us who just want to search for a file on our PC, and nothing or nowhere else, the following instructions will help you do so. This will help you turn off and disable Microsoft’s Cortana from your Windows 10 computer as well as disable the Bing search results from the Start menu.

 

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The Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) is a discrete feature that collects your computer systems information and usage patterns and transmits it back to Microsoft.

Microsoft ensures that this program doesn’t collect any personal information but there isn’t a way to verify what it is sending out.

If you value your privacy, as I do, and wish to disable the Windows 10 CEIP feature this article will show you how.

 

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