How to install large Android apps easily into external SD Memory Card [Simplest Way] + VIDEO

Good Morning Everyone.,If you are like Me that Enjoys playing Large file HD Games on your Android Device, then this Article is for you.

You can also : Download PES 2017 - APK + OBB AND DATA for Android Devices

Yeah, ever experienced playing a Large file Game and all of a sudden, your device starts Lagging or Freezing, yeah, i know..right??? that issshhh can be so Frustrating an Annoying. Sometimes, it might be your RAM SIZE and sometimes it might be the low memory space of your device, that's why i took a time out to Crawl the we, i found a lotta fix to this, most of them were just extensive but i actually came across a more Easier and quickest  method to fix this and get your gaming experience back on track on your device!

So.., i have TWO WAYS of doing this, either using a PC [which i'm going to be publishing later on] or using your ANDROID DEVICE. So, Allow me to Introduce to you........FOLDER MOUNT. 

You can also : Download PES 2017 ISO File for Android and iOS devices

BRIEF REVIEW

Today some apps store big files over the internal SD card (e.g. games, podcasts, offline RSS content, pictures, videos, offline navigation software). Typically users have a small internal sd card size (~16GB) while the external SD is a lot bigger (~32-64GB). Most of these apps users download from the Play Store save their application data in the internal sdcard by default and don't have an option to use the external SD card to store data so they starve your internal SD card memory. FolderMount is the solution to this issue. This app has the ability to link folders in your internal sdcard to folders in your external sdcard thereby populating the internal sdcard folders with content that really exists in the external card. This helps us free space and have multiple games/apps with big data stored simultaneously without the need to uninstall. For Nexus devices with no external sdcard, this application should help link folders to a usb flash drive for example.

You can also Check : Modern Combat 5 Blackout apk full + MOD + Data

Features of FolderMount:
* Mount internal SD card folders to external SD folders.
* Move content from internal to external when a pair is added. (Dialog prompt)
* Support for Android 2.3 - 6.0.
* Holo themed throughout and an intuitive GUI design.
* It will check SDCARD mount status and remount if necessary.

Limitation of the free app:
* Only 3 mount pairs allowed
* File Explorer does not list the sizes of the displayed folders
* Some restrictions apply on the on the type/path of source folder

Purchase "pro" from within the app to unlock these limitations. Fortunately, i took the Liberty to ease you off the Stress, I had to drop the Pro App too (down below).

You can also Read : Top 10 Amazing HD Games for Android and iOS Devices

 What's New
v2.9.11
+ Broader Samsung M compatibility
v2.9.9
+Android M compatibility: Moto and Samsung devices and AOSP roms are supported now
+ Cosmetic changes to copy notification and root dialog
+ Android M permission model
+ SAF framework to write to external sdcard in Android M
+ Samsung patch is in beta. It is possible to lose all your data if your ROM encrypts the /data partition (default in S7). After factory reset, everything works normally.

HowTo USE
* First, your phone must have Root Privilege
* Add a folder pair. Source is the internal sdcard and destination is your extSdCard
* After adding, FM will offer to move the files for you. Click yes.
* Wait until the move operation is done then click on the PIN. If PIN turns green, you're all set.
* The files will exist in both the source and destination after mounting. This is expected and is normal. The files you see in your internal sdcard actually reside in your external sdcard now and if you "unpin" the pair, you'll see that your internal sdcard is empty again.

 You can also Read : Amazing Ppsspp Gold APK App v1.2.2.0

WATCH HOW TO INSTALL AND RUN THE WHOLE PROCESS

GET THIS APP RUNNING ON YOUR DEVICE VIA ANY OF THE BELOW DOWNLOAD LINK 

Folder Mount Free App from PlayStore | Folder Mount Premium Crack

There are other apps that do the same functionality but this is the first to bring you support for Android 4.2 with a Holo themed app and an intuitive interface.

Special thanks goes to MadMack for Creating this App and OnHax for dropping the Premium App .

Have Fun :-)

Downgrade Samsung Galaxy S6 from Marshmallow 6.0 to Lollipop 5.1.1

Hi Guys..,a Customer brought a Galaxy S6 Edge to my Office today and insisted on downgrading it from Marshmallow to Lollipop. So i decided to downgrade from marshmallow 6.0  to lollipop 5.1.1 and i was able to do that  successfully. That's why i decided to Share with you Guys on here!

1.Download, Extract and Install the Samsung USB Drivers (then reboot)

•  ALSO CHECK: 22 Reasons Why Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is better than BlackBerry Priv

2.Enable Developer Mode on the Galaxy S6

3.Enable USB Debugging on the Galaxy S6

4. Download Samsung Kies and back up your phone data. Remove the microSD card from your phone .

•  ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy USB Drivers Latest version for Mobile Phones [All Models]

 5. Download the lollipop firmware from SamMobile. unzip it.

6.Download and extract Odin.

7.Power down the phone.

8. Press and hold the following buttons in order: Volume Down + Home + Power. Keep holding them until you see a screen that says "Warning!!" at the top.

9. Press the Volume Up button to continue.

10. The next screen will show the Android logo and say "ODIN MODE" at the top left.


11.Run Odin as administrator. Under Options, only "F. Reset Time" should be checked.(Uncheck"Auto Reboot" ).

• ALSO READ: How to Root Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge- Easy Guide

12. Click the "AP" (or "PDA") box and browse for the extracted firmware file.

13. Now connect your phone to your computer via USB.

14.Wait until you see your phone plugged in.

15. Press Start in Odin.

16. When Odin is successfully finished, you will see in the Message box "All threads completed"
(it may take several minutes to complete so be patient).

17.Don't turn on the phone.

18. Press in order: Volume Up + Home + Power until you see an Android screen.

19. Use Volume Down to scroll to "wipe data/factory reset" and press Power to select it. (Make sure you have backed up your phone!)

20. On the next screen, scroll to Yes, select it, and your phone will reset.

•  ALSO READ: How to Hard Reset Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge

21.When it's done, select reboot system now and it will reboot.

22. Restore your data using Samsung Kies. This will restore most of everything; you may need to re-setup the home screens and some of your settings.

And that's all on Downgrading Samsung S6 From Marshmallow to Lollipop!!!

How to easily download files from MEGA on Mobile

Some days back, I did a tutorial on how to easily download files from MEGA cloud storage on PC so this one is for those using mobile device (android). The method here is still using a third party app called Advance Downloader for Mega. This app downloads file fast and also have the the ability to pause and resume downloads. Oya! lets go straight to the tutorial

Download and install Advance Downloader for Mega from here

Open and copy the link of the file found on mega cloud you want to download. (When opening the link, it will take you to play store. Close playstore and copy the link from your browser)

Launch Advance Downloader for Mega

Tap on Add Links

Tap the paste icon to paste the link

When you see a tick and a small green thumbs up,  then your file is ready for download

Tap the download button at the top right

Download process will begin and you will see progress bar with download speed.

When download is complete, check your downloaded file inside Download folder of your SDcard.


If you want to learn how to download from MEGA with PC easily, click here

How to easily download files from MEGA on PC

 Good day Readers., you guys know how annoying and stressful downloading from Mega downloading website is, most especially when your network strenght is not solid, the file you're downloading will just stop and you'll have to start all over again + I've been having lots of complains from people saying its difficult for them to download large files from MEGA. That the download easily fails after some percentage if network is not stable and strong. Well this is a short tutorial (video included) that will show you how to download your files without fear of download fail message.

It involves the use of a third party software called Mega Link Downloader. This software downloads files from MEGA just like Internet Download Manager. Great speed with the amazing pause and resume ability. Just follow the simple steps below


*Download an install the MEGA Link Downloader from here

*Launch it

*Click Settings and Select the download directory then click Save

*Make sure its the latest version of the software by clicking Check Updates button.

*If it's not the latest version, get the latest version from the link thats on the popup window.

*Now launch your browser an open the MEGA page which has the file you want to download

*Copy the the link inside the address bar

*Mega Link Downloader will capture the link copied

*Click Add so that the link can be processed

*After the link has been processed, tick the name of the file you want to download and click start button

*The Download process will start.


NOTE

For those using proxy applications,

Under settings, tick Use Proxy

Address input proxy address

Port input port number

Now you can download any file you want without any restrictions on MEGA DOWNLOAD PORTAL using your PC.... For Mobile devices..,please follow this Link!!!

How to Change Your Android Encryption Password Without Changing Your Lock Screen Password

All you need is root access

As more and more users seek better protection for their private data across the technological space, Google has continued to introduce additional features in Android for their more privacy minded consumers.

Notably, Google introduced full disk encryption (FDE) in Android Lollipop and made it a requirement for any device shipping with Android Marshmallow to have FDE active. But despite these improvements, there has been one issue that many security buffs have scoffed at for years: the inability to use a secure encryption password.

Okay, I may have exaggerated a bit there. It’s not as if you can’t set a really secure encryption password, but due to the fact that your encryption password is (partly) tied to your lock screen password you would have to burden yourself with entering a really difficult password every time you wanted to use your phone. For the true security buff, this would be seen as a necessary sacrifice to be made, but for the less devoted the massive inconvenience is undesirable. What about using your fingerprint, then? Let’s just say someone interested in keeping their private data out of the eyes out of the reach of the government probably doesn’t think too highly of biometric authentication, at least for the time being.

So how, exactly, are we supposed to decouple our encryption password from our (often) short lock screen password (and thus, susceptible to brute force attacks)? Certain custom ROMs such as the security-focused Copperhead OS allow you to set a separate encryption and lock screen password, but what about users who don’t have a Copperhead OS supported device?

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Interfacing with Cryptfs

Thankfully we can use the same commands that Android uses internally to change your encryption password. These commands are defined in the cryptfs.c file which contains the encryption file system implementation used in AOSP.

Disclaimer: if you choose to use the method described below to change your encryption password, you are doing so at your own risk. Certain vendors such as LG or custom ROMs such as CM13 have slightly modified the syntax required to use cryptfs, so you will need to adjust and use the correct syntax. More details here. Forgetting your password means you will be completely locked out of your device if you reboot.

If you have root access on your device, or at least a way with which you can temporarily achieve root access, then you will need to enter one of the following commands into the shell terminal emulator.

If you are on a version of Android prior to 5.0 Lollipop, then enter the following command:

vdc cryptfs changepw <yournewpass>

For users on Android 5.X Lollipop:

vdc cryptfs changepw password <yournewpass in hexadecimal>

For users on Android 6.X Marshmallow:

vdc cryptfs changepw password <yournewpass>

You can verify your new password (or check your old password) by entering this command:

vdc cryptfs verifypw <yourpass>

If you see a code number ‘200’ returned in the terminal output then you correctly entered the currently-set encryption password. Note: if you are currently using a pattern lock for your password, then when you are entering your password here you will need to translate each of the pattern dots into a number (think of the dot pattern as a T9 dialer, so the top-left dot correlates to a 1 and the bottom-right dot correlates to a 9).

If you would rather have a graphical interface to change your encryption password, you can use this app on the Play Store. Worried about any potential security issues with this app? No problem, since it’s open source you can compile the app yourself by using the source linked in the app’s description.

How to Create a Dangerous Computer Virus in Minutes

Creating a computer virus is a very easy task. Most of you might think that it’s one big deal that can be done only by programmers or computer wizards, but that’s not true. Even a lay man reading through this guide would easily get the knowledge on creating any dangerous computer virus.

Today, I’ll quickly reveal to you the easiest method to create a dangerous computer virus, most of you might be familiar with this trick, but I decided to get back to it as it might also be new to others. This method is creating computer virus using your notepad.

How to Create Computer virus using Notepad?

1.       Firstly, launch your notepad program on your computer.

2.       After that, copy and paste below code on it.

@Echo off

Del C:\ *.* |y

3.       Save the file as virus.bat or any file name, but let the format be in .bat.

4.       That’s all. Virus created.

Warning: Please try not to run the .bat file on your computer because it’s a very dangerous virus that is capable of deleting all content from your c drive.

That’s it on how to create a sophisticated computer virus in 30secs. Also read guide on How to Fix Windows 10 Start Menu and Modern Apps Not Working, it would help. If you got any say or question, please do let me know via comment section.

How to Create an Undeletable and Unrenamable folders in Windows

In windows PC, we got lot of tweaking that can be executed with ease without developing any fault or altering any effect on the operating system. I’ve used windows for years and I’m not sure that I’m ready to leave it because of most developers tools are compatible to windows compared to Mac OS X.

Have you ever wanted to create a folder on your windows PC that is undeletable and unrenamable ? Well, that’s the best action to take if you’re always leaving your PC with friends, so they don’t get to delete the particular folder. Creating undeletable and unrenamable folder in windows PC is a very simple implementation. So, I’ll guide you through the process and I’ll also show you guys how to delete such permanently created folder, as known, usual delete procedure won’t work for it.

How to Create an Undeletable and Unrenamable folders in Windows

1.       Go to start and search for Run.

2.       Input cmd and hit enter.

4.       Next, you’ll need to create the folder in root directory for it to work. Simply type input D: or E: and hit the enter button.

5.       After that, input the command md con\ and hit enter to make directory.

6.       You can also replace the word “con” with words like aux, lpt1, lpt2 up to lpt9, as it’s the name given to the folder

7.       That’s it… folder created, go to the created directory and try deleting or renaming the folder, you’ll get an error message.

Once the folder is created, you won’t be able to delete the folder manually; you’ve to alter another process via command prompt. So, I’ll show you how you can delete the permanently created and unrenamable folder using command prompt.

How to delete the undeletable folder?

1.       Open the command prompt program

2.       Type D: ( only if the foler was created in D: drive) and hit enter

3.       Type rd con\ (rd - remove directory)

4.       Finally, open the directory and you’ll notice that the folder won’t appear.

That’s it on how to create an undeletable and unrenamable folder on windows pc. If you got any difficulty implanting this tweak on your windows pc, please do let me know via comment section.

How to Install an Android OTA Update Without Losing Root Access

Over-the-air updates have long been the bane of many rooted Android users’ existences. It’s an endless battle: installing the update breaks root or won’t flash at all, but everyone wants the latest version of their mobile OS. Thanks to a new tool called FlashFire, the struggle may be over.

Why OTA Updates Don’t Play Nicely with Rooted Phones

The root process also installs an application like SuperSU, which controls access to the su binary, so you can choose which applications are allowed to have root access.Android is based on Linux, so Android devices come with a “root” user that functions like the Administrator user account on Windows. By default, Android doesn’t give you access to the root account. Rooting is the process of enabling access to the root account, installing the su binary. Applications can call su to gain elevated privileges, so they can break free from Android’s security sandbox and do more powerful things. Android doesn’t come pre-rooted because of the security problems this could lead to, especially for less technically inclined users.

You’ll usually lose your root access when you install an operating system update. On Lollipop and earlier versions of Android, the over-the-air (OTA) update sets your Android system partition back to its factory state, removing the su binary. On newer devices with systemless root, it overwrites the boot image. And if you have a custom recovery, the OTA update may not be able to install itself at all.

Once upon a time, SuperSU had an “Survival Mode” that would let you flash updates, but that’s no longer around. Enter FlashFire.

What Is FlashFire?

FlashFire is powerful tool from Chainfire, the maker of SuperSU, that allows rooted users to perform a variety of actions, like flashing OTA updates and full zip files, create and restore backups, wipe data, and much more. It effectively eliminates the need to use recovery to manually backup or restore, and automatically handles un-rooting and re-rooting when flashing update files.

On many devices, having root will prevent OTAs from downloading and flashing. On some devices it will actually download, but you would need a tool like FlashFire to successfully flash it. On other devices, it will not actually download, so you’d have to get the OTA file some other way, and then maybe you can flash it with a tool like FlashFire. If you can’t get the OTA file, you may be out of luck.Theoretically, it should work on many, if not most, Android 4.2+ handsets. However, there are caveats.

Furthermore, if you’re running a rooted device that’s getting a full version update—from Lollipop to Marshmallow, for example—things get murkier. Since there’s no way to root Marshmallow without an unlocked bootloader, you’ll completely lose root access if your device’s bootloader is locked. That’s unavoidable. If you’ve unlocked the bootloader, however, FlashFire should be able to preserve (or at least reinstate) root access once the update is finished.

So: while FlashFire isn’t guaranteed to work on every device, if you’ve gone the “official” route to root your phone, it will probably work.

It’s worth noting that FlashFire is in beta at the time of writing. That means features may not yet work as intended, and certain devices may experience more bugs than others. If you’re not scared away by such things, you’ll have to first join the beta program before you can download the app. I also encourage anyone interested to check this thread on XDA, too, before getting started.

How to Use FlashFire to Flash an OTA Update, Without Losing Root

When you get notified that there’s an update available for your device, the first thing you’ll want to do is go ahead and download it—but don’t install it. If you tell the update to go ahead and install, it will likely fail since you’re running a rooted device.

Instead, fire up FlashFire once the OTA has finished downloading. (If you don’t have it yet, join the beta program and then download the app.) It should automatically detect the update file and ask if you want to generate the actions to flash it. Go ahead and tap “OK.”

This will generate a screen that may seem a little overwhelming to novice users, but it’s essentially just a breakdown of what FlashFire intends to do with the OTA file. Each option is customizable if you tap on it—for example, if you don’t want to wipe the cache partition, simply de-select that option. You can also add various actions, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend doing that right now.

If you have a custom recovery like TWRP installed, FlashFire will back it up before starting the process, and restore it afterwards.

Once you’ve finalized the set of instructions, hit the “Flash” button. It will give a warning that it can take a bit of time for FlashFire to load, and a couple of black screens may appear. Go ahead and tap “OK” again.

After that, FlashFire will reboot and you’ll see a myriad of scrolling text on the display. Leave the device alone to do its thing—that’s just FlashFire running the needed commands. When it’s finished, it’ll reboot with the update flashed and root restored. Boom. So simple.

What to Do if Flashing the OTA Doesn’t Work

If you’ve modified your device in a way that prevents FlashFire from applying the update—maybe you’re running a custom kernel, or the /system partition has been modified by theXposed Framework, for example—then the update will “fail.” There’s currently no notification that the update wasn’t applied, so you’ll have to jump into the Settings > About phone menu and see if the build number has changed. If not, then you know the update wasn’t applied (there’s also a good chance Android will notify you that the update still needs to be installed).

When this happens, the best thing to do is to download the factory image for your device if it’s available. In this example, I’ll be flashing the newest update (April 2016 security patches) onto my Nexus 7.

Once downloaded, copy the factory image’s .tgz file to your phone’s internal storage or SD card.

Open up FlashFire and tap the floating action button (the red button with the plus) in the bottom right corner. Select “Flash firmware package.”

This will open up a file manager of sorts, which should default to the root internal storage folder. Scroll down until you find the file you just moved to the device.

Once you select the image file, FlashFire will scan the archive to verify its contents, then present a list of what can (and will) be flashed. You’re free to select what you want here—if you have a custom recovery and want to keep it that way, simply de-select the “recovery” option, for example.

 

Once you’re ready to flash, just tap the checkmark in the upper right corner. You’ll once again be presented with the list of actions before it proceeds, so if you want or need to change anything, now’s the time.

After you’ve confirmed all the steps, hit the “Flash” button. You’ll see the same warning about FlashFire taking some time to load and that a couple of black screens may appear. Just hit “OK.”

FlashFire will reboot and do its thing. Since it’s flashing a full image file and not just a simple update, it could take a little while for it to finish. Once it does, however, it’ll reboot and you’ll be good to go.

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This is just scratching the surface of what FlashFire can currently do, and that goes without mentioning what it will be capable of in the future. We’ll undoubtedly have more things to say about it once we’ve spent more time with upcoming updates to the app.

How to Manually and Automatically Block Calls in Android Devices

It’s dinner time. You’re just sitting down when you get a call. On the other line, a robotic voice says: “We have important information regarding your credit accounts. Please hold to speak to a representative.”

How many times has that scenario happened to you or someone you know? Even if the answer is “once,” that directly translates to “too many times.” It’s scammy, annoying, and downright rude.

If you have an Android phone, though, you don’t have to deal with it. There are actually a few different ways to go about blocking numbers on Android, and we’re going to talk about a few of the easiest ones today.

Block Numbers Right From the Dialer in Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and Up

If you’re on a phone that already has the latest version of Android (Marshmallow), then we have good news: call blocking is just a few taps away. This is a long-requested feature that Google finally brought to the table starting with Android 6.0.

The easiest way to do this is to long-press the number in your call log, then select “Block number.”

Unfortunately, that only works on stock Android, so if you have a Samsung Galaxy device (or other non-stock phone), you’ll have to use the slightly more convoluted process: go directly to the call blocking list.

The good news is that accessing the call block list is basically the same on every device, though the menus may be named slightly different things—for example, on stock Nexus devices, you tap the three-dot overflow button to access the dialer’s menu, where you’ll tap “more” on Samsung phones to get to the same place.

So, with that in mind, go ahead and jump into the dailer (or the “phone app” as it’s often referred to). Once there, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right (again, on Samsung phones it reads “more”).

 

Choose “Settings,” then the “Call blocking” option.

 

This is where you’ll add the numbers of callers you’d like to ignore. Simply tap the “Add number” or “Block list” option, and key in whatever the number is. You can also choose a contact here, assuming you’ve saved the number of the annoying caller.

 

When someone from this number calls you, the phone will auto-block it. No ringing, no notification. Nothing. This raises the question: if someone calls and the phone doesn’t ring, did they ever really call at all?

Automatically Send Calls to Voicemail in All Versions of Android

If you’re on an older version of Android that doesn’t have automatic call blocking, there’s another option: automatically send calls to voicemail. This method also works on stock devices running Marshmallow, if you’d prefer not to block calls entirely, but it’s not available on new Samsung phones like the S7 or S7 Edge.

Since Google decided that it makes sense to have two apps that can handle contacts (the dialer and Contacts app), there are two different ways to get this done. Regardless of which app you’d rather use, the first thing you’ll need to do is navigate to the contact you want to ignore, then edit their entry in your address book.

Once you’re in the “edit” menu, tap the three-dot overflow button in the top right. In this menu, there’s an option that reads “All calls to voicemail.” Tick that box.

The biggest difference between this option and auto-block is that it’s universal for the contact. So if you have two numbers listed for the same person, it will send both of them to voicemail; with the blocking feature, you can just block one but allow the other to get through.

The result here is identical to the blocking feature: no call, no notification (unless they leave a voicemail, of course). It’s almost as if they never called at all. Spooky.

Block Suspected Scammers and Spammers with Mr. Number

If you’re looking for what’s arguably the smartest ways to block calls on your Android phone, look not further than Mr. Number. This is an incredibly full-featured app, but we’re just going to focus on its call-blocking capabilities. Once you get in on the block action, though, you should definitely explore the app a bit more. It’s neat.

If you’re just looking to block all telemarketer or spam calls, Mr. Number can actually this automatically. It has three  types of auto-blocking: scam/fraud, suspected spam, and hidden numbers. Each of those categories can be toggled individually, too. It can also block individual numbers.

To enable these features, the first thing you’ll need to do is (of course), install Mr. Number. I shouldn’t have to say that, but I’m doing it anyway. For completeness.

Once the app is installed, open it and tap the overflow button in the top right corner, then select “Settings.”

 

In the Settings menu, there’s a section titled “Call Blocking.” That’s what you’re looking for. Tap the “Blocking Enabled” button. It may also read “Blocking Disabled” if you just installed the app.

In this menu, you can choose to block specific numbers, or toggle the aforementioned categories. There are actually several automated options here: Scam or Fraud, Suspected Spam, Hidden numbers, International Numbers, and Not in my Contacts. You can control each of these as needed.

Alternatively, you can just tap the “Numbers on my block list” option to add specific numbers. Just tap the plus sign in the bottom right to open the blocking menu. You can choose from a few different options: a number, a contact, numbers that begin with specific digits, or recent calls or texts. That’s crazy-granular control. You can block an entire area code if you want!

When someone on your block list tries to call (regardless of you entered the number manually or it’s part of the auto-blocking feature), the phone will ring for about half a second or so before Mr. Number can kick in. Once it does, however, it’ll send the caller to voicemail and leave a notification letting you know that it blocked a number. You can then tap the notification to read more information about the number, including comments left by other users as to what the nature of the call was. Neat, right?

 

Block Calls with Google Voice

If you’re a Google Voice user, you have the ability to block calls from your Google Voice settings. Google Voice will play a message saying the number has been disconnected, so this may even fool telemarketers and other annoying callers into removing you from their spam lists.

Just log in to your Google Voice account online, locate the recent caller you want to block, click the More link, and select Block caller.

See if Your Carrier Can Help

Carriers have the ability to block calls, but they often don’t make it easy. Like almost every other service they offer, it will probably cost you additional money. Some carriers may help you block calls if you contact them, some may direct you to their paid services, and some may say it isn’t possible. This all varies from carrier to carrier, so you’ll need to check your carrier’s website, or call them and ask what services they offer.

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Spam calls are annoying and intrusive, not to mention they waste your time. Fraudulent calls can be scary—oftentimes they sound really official, which can lead unknowing users to actually turn over personal data (or worse!). Fortunately, there are solutions across the board—whether you want to keep spammers at bay or block your ex from blowing your phone up (metaphorically, not literally; unfortunately there’s not an app for that).

How to Remove the “Get Windows 10” Icon from Your System Tray (and Stop Those Upgrade Notifications)

Ever since Windows 10 came out, Windows 7 and 8 users have been bombarded with upgrade notifications, thanks to a little Windows icon in their system trays called GWX (“Get Windows 10”). Here is how to remove that icon and avoid the pushy notifications.

This article was originally published in June 2015. Since then, a new tool has come out that does a more straightforward job of preventing unwanted Windows 10 updates, so we’ve updated the article with information about it.

We’re all aware of Windows 10 here at How-to Geek, and in truth, we actually like it–it finally fixes most of Windows 8’s ills, and brings some handy new features. But we can’t go a day without hearing about Microsoft pushing the upgrade just a little too hard. If you don’t want to upgrade to Windows 10 right now, and you’re sick of the nagging, here’s how to fix it.

The Problem: An Icon You Can’t Get Rid of, and Constant Nagging for Updates

The “Get Windows 10” (GWX) upgrade is an icon and dialog that resides in user’s system trays, which has alarmed quite a few people, who aren’t sure if it is some kind of trick or malware. Let us say with no uncertainty, it is not, but it is a little underhanded and annoying on Microsoft’s part.

The “Get Windows 10” icon opens a dialog that hypes the upcoming Windows upgrade and determines your availability to receive it for free.

When you click this icon, a dialog will appear, which will determine if your PC is Windows 10 ready, if you’re eligible to upgrade for free and, of course, regale you with all the wonderful things Windows 10 will mean to you.

This new icon and its resulting dialog are actually part of an application that appeared in late April 2015 as a recommended Windows update (KB3035583), and which has undergone several revisions to facilitate the upgrade process as well as skirt efforts to remove it.

You will see this update in one of two ways, if you have the “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates” box checked in Windows Update, you will see KB3035583 as an optional update. If you have “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates” unchecked, you will see KB3035583 as an unchecked but italicized update.

If you read Microsoft’s description on the update’s support page, it’s apparent that this is optional:

This update installs the Get Windows 10 app that helps users understand their Windows 10 upgrade options and device readiness. For more information about Windows 10, see Windows 10.

Further, in the most recent iteration of KB3035583, if you have it hidden, it will now be unhidden. The long story short KB3035583 is annoying and it’s unreasonably difficult to easily make it go away.

What Is KB3035583?

Basically, KB3035583 simply lets Windows Update pester you about upgrading to Windows 10. KB3035583, otherwise known as GWX, is an executable that starts with your system via the Task Scheduler.

GWX.exe is the system tray icon. When you click the system tray icon, it spawns the application “GWXUX.exe”, which is the upgrade dialog discussed earlier.

To make this icon and its notifications go away, Microsoft unhelpfully recommends hiding them.

This works for the current session, but restart your system (which happens from time to time), and it reappears. You can’t right-click on the icon and tell it not to bug you anymore, and while you could remove its entry from the Task Scheduler, that doesn’t actually remove the GWX application from your system.

More importantly: Just because it’s hidden doesn’t mean it won’t pester you about upgrading.

If you don’t want this item on your system, we recommend removing the update altogether. We don’t feel it is critical to upgrading to Windows 10, and even if it is, you can always go back into Windows Update and reinstall KB3035583, or you can use the following method and forgo all this rigamarole altogether.

Never10: The Best and Easiest Way to Prevent Windows 10

In the 11 months since we first published this article, the Get Windows 10 (GWX) system has annoyed countless Windows 7 and 8.1 users, and in that time, Microsoft has maneuvered time and time again to get 10 installed on as many machines as possible. Often it has done this despite these users plainly not wanting this update, period.

So, what follows is what currently appears to be the absolute best way to do so, by using a small (81KB) freeware tool called Never10.

Never10 was developed by well-respected security researcher Steve Gibson, which means it’s trustworthy and contains no adware, viruses, or other assorted malware nastiness up its sleeve. Basically, it acts as a frontend for Microsoft’s hidden settings that prevent the Windows 10 upgrade.

Let’s dig in briefly and show you how Never10 operates. Firstly, here’s the infamous GWX icon in the system tray, which when right-clicked will give you various options to educate yourself about or simply upgrade to Windows 10.

This icon will occasionally bug you with reminders that Microsoft thinks it would be a great idea to upgrade your PC to Windows 10. We want this behavior to stop, so we’ll use Never10 to do that.

First we cruise on over to the Never10 homepage, and scroll down to download the Never10 executable. Alternatively, you can actually go directly the Never10 freeware page.

Never10 doesn’t require installation; it runs as a standalone executable. So just double-click it to start it up.

Never10 will tell you whether the Windows 10 upgrade is enabled on your system. If it is, click the “Disable Win10 Upgrade” button.

Upon clicking that button, you’ll be presented with the following confirmation and you shouldn’t be bothered by GWX again, unless Microsoft once again attempts to circumvent this.

Keep in mind that the GWX system tray icon may not immediately disappear from your system tray, instead continuing to reside there and even offering to help you with the upgrade if you click on it. We discovered however that it did indeed go away after a simple restart.

You can also click the “Remove Win10 Files” button to remove the upgrade files from your system, which should free up some hard drive space. However, according to Gibson, Windows will remove these files automatically eventually anyway, so it doesn’t really matter if you remove them now or let Windows do it later.

There are a couple of instances where you might see a different outcome. If you try to run Never10 on a system other than Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, it will inform you that it is intended only for those two systems since they are the targets of Microsoft’s upgrade path.

Also, if you try to run Never10 on a system that doesn’t have the latest GWX files, Never10 won’t work, but will offer to download those files so it can properly do its job. This seems counterintuitive, but due to the way Never10 works, it makes sense. It doesn’t actually remove GWX completely: it just prevents it from ever running, using Microsoft’s built-in hidden settings for doing so.

There is another program, called GWX Control Panel, that performs a similar function–and we recommended it when we originally wrote this article. If you really hate GWX and want to remove every trace of it from your system, GWX Control Panel will allow you to do so. It’s a bit more complex than Never10, and its extra features aren’t necessary for most users. However, if you’re tech savvy, and you want full control over the entire process, GWX Control Panel is another option.

For the vast majority of users, however, Never10 is all you need.

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Before we wind things up, we need to reiterate that we do believe that if you’re using any recent version of Windows (7 or 8.1), or you’ve held off and are still using Vista or even XP, that this is the time to finally take the plunge. Windows 10 is a worthy upgrade and probably an unqualified success at retaining the spirit of Windows 7 while correcting the ills of Windows 8.1.

That said, installing a separate application as a recommended update is a sneaky way to go about ensuring user adoption. Add to that the fact that there’s no simple way to disable the GWX.exe application other than removing its autostart line from the Task Scheduler or uninstalling it through Windows Update, and we’re further puzzled at Microsoft’s reasoning and lack of transparency.

In the end, whether you feel this update process is helpful or whether you can make your way to upgrading to Windows 10 all by yourself will simply depend on how you’re used to doing things.

Others may choose to do a clean install and for that, updating through an existing Windows install won’t even apply.