Microphone doesn’t appear on Cortana

If have newly installed Windows 10 and find that Cortana (on the task bar) doesn’t have a mic icon.  You are not alone.  You can go into Cortana and set up the mic but for some reason it doesn’t allow you to use it.  This is a problem I remember having when I was downloading previews of Windows 10 on the Windows Inside program prior to the release.  I thought it would be resolved by now but apparently not.

It seems to be a problem Canadians have had since upgrading from Windows 7.

Here is how to fix it”

Windows key (Start Menu) – Settings

Time & Language – Region & Language

Under Country or region select United States

Under Languages - Add a Language

Select “English (United States)

Restart your computer and Click on Cortana

No Recycle Bin on Desktop

As you may know, I provide education and tech support for the folks at Rock Crusher in Florida in the Winter.  I had a problem I hadn't seen before and a solution I hadn't seen before.
Sandy had a bunch of problems with her computer that we resolved very quickly and then she brought up the since she upgraded to Windows 10 in the summer she wasn't able to find her Recycle Bin it was no longer on the desktop.

I went into Setting - Personalization - Themes - Desktop Items Settings.  Sure enough Recycle Bin had been selected.  Hummm!  I went to File Explorer and selected Desktop.  There were program Icons showing there that also were not on the desktop.  I had not idea why that would happen.

Today, I was playing with Desktop Background settings and I found a very simple solution but until now I had no idea this existed.

Solution:  Right click on Destop - click on View and look what's on that menu.
"Show Desktop Icons."  Problem solved!