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How To Check What Version of Windows You Have

What Version Of Windows Do I Have?

Check with one easy command!

  1. Right click ‘Start’ and choose ‘Run’
  2. Type ‘winver’ and press ‘OK’
  3. A window will show up showing the main version of Windows you are on (such as Windows 10), followed by the version and build details.

Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP


The menu that pops up in Windows 11 after right clicking the Start button (Blue 4 boxes)

The ‘winver’ command goes all the way back to even before the Windows for Workgroups 3.11 days, and was a GUI version of the ‘ver’ command.

As you can see above, the version (2004), OS build (19041.572), and edition (Pro) are all listed.

How To Update Microsoft Edge

How To Check For Updates on Microsoft Edge

  1. Click the Ellipsis (…) in the top right corner
  2. Under ‘Help and Feedback’ click ‘About Microsoft Edge’
  3. The page that shows up will tell you if you’re on the latest version, or give you an update link to click on.

Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7


Microsoft Edge (Chromium version) should just update by itself. If there’s an update ready to go, you may see an arrow over the top right hand corner ellipsis, which just means you need to restart the browser when you want the update to apply.

New versions (known as builds) are released frequently – on a 6 week cycle for features, and security updates as required.

If you’re still on the old Microsoft Edge (known as Microsoft Edge Legacy), then check Windows Update as this will automatically upgrade you to the new Edge.

Bing Daily Wallpaper On Your PC

Microsoft Bing’s Free Daily Wallpaper on your PC

Bing releases a daily wallpaper that can automatically be shown on your PC. The images they use are impressive shots of nature, and it’s actually quite nice to see a new daily photo. You can download this for free directly from Microsoft at the link below.

Applies To: Windows 10, Windows Vista, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/bing-wallpaper

The Bing Wallpaper app from Microsoft is a quick install that sits in your taskbar. On a daily basis, it will download and update your desktop wallpaper with a new nature photo.

By right-clicking on the ‘b’ in your taskbar for Bing Wallpaper, there’s a few options:

First you’ll see a description of the image and photographer. If you don’t like today’s wallpaper, you can go back through previous days to one you prefer. The enable daily refresh is on by default, but if there’s a photo you like and don’t want it to change, you can just turn that off.

It’s an easy and free way of keeping your desktop fresh, and a chance to see some awesome photography!

Device Manager in Windows 10

How To Find Device Manager On Windows 10

Device Manager is easy to find in Windows 10. You can access it by either clicking on ‘Start’ and typing ‘Device Manager’, then opening the App, or right clicking on ‘Start’ and clicking on ‘Device Manager’

Device Manager can be used to see if there are any devices detected but in an errored state, missing drivers, or to update drivers.

Applies To: Windows 10


Device Manager has been around for a long time, and is still a handy tool. When you first launch Device Manager, see if there’s any devices that have a yellow exclamation mark next to them – they should stand out very clearly, and it means there’s an issue.

To try and fix a problem with a device, there’s a few things you can try:

Right click on the device and ‘uninstall device’. Then, click the ‘scan for hardware changes’ button which is a blue computer screen with a magnifying glass over it. This should rediscover the device and may use a better driver at time of setting up.

If that doesn’t work, right click on the device and choose ‘Update driver’. Then choose ‘Search automatically for drivers’. Usually this doesn’t find anything new, but you can then choose the ‘Search for updated drivers on Windows Update’ option which will take you to Windows Update in Settings, where you can click ‘check for updates’. Some driver updates are available through this method. If that doesn’t work, go to the manufacturer’s website of the device and look for drivers to download there – they usually are bundled with an installer that you can run.

If all that fails, you’ve got a bit of a problem. For USB connected devices, try a different port, different cable or even a different computer – if you can prove it works on another computer, then you know the device itself is OK. If it doesn’t work elsewhere, it could be an old device not supported on Windows 10 (particularly if you’re now running a 64 bit Operating System) and the manufacturer only ever created 32 bit drivers.

Otherwise, start searching on Google or Bing with details of your problem and the device in question, and see if anyone’s got a suggestion specific to that bit of hardware.

Howtogeek has a great detailed article if you’d like to dive deeper into Device Manager.

CPU Temperature in Windows 10 & Windows 11

CPU Temperature in Windows 10

Windows 10 doesn’t have a native way to check the CPU temperature, but there are many free third party programs that can show it to you

  • Coretemp
  • HWMonitor
  • OpenHardwareMonitor
  • Speedfan
  • NZXTCAM
  • Speccy
  • Rainmeter

Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 11


Here’s the links to each program’s website:

Coretemp

HWMonitor

OpenHardwareMonitor

Speedfan

NZXTCAM

Speccy

Rainmeter

If you’re worried about your CPU overheating – the maximum CPU temperature really depends on the CPU. Look up what the ranges for your CPU are; CPUTemper have a good list here, or go to the manufacturer’s specifications:

Intel CPU List

Intel refers to it as a Junction Temperature or TJunction – the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

AMD CPU List

AMD will list the MAX TEMPS for each CPU.

Above 80°C or 176°F is generally not ideal.