Table of contents for February 2016 in Windows Help & Advice

On paper, SteamOS is a brilliant idea for gamers. The free operating system, based on Linux, has been designed to usurp Windows on computers, while competing with consoles for dominance of gamers’ televisions. Developer Valve – best known for its Half-Life game series and online games shop Steam – even partnered with PC manufacturers to create a new breed of SteamOS-powered gaming PCs, dubbed Steam Machines. But it hasn’t quite worked out the way Valve wanted it to. While it’s a little too early to declare Steam Machines a complete flop, they certainly aren’t flying off the shelves. The biggest issue is – unsurprisingly – Windows, Microsoft’s operating system, which has dominated the PC market for the last 30 years. It’s easy to see why Valve initially thought SteamOS was…

AVOCADO EGG BAKE… Sounds delicious. It’s also 2015’s top pin among Pinterest’s UK users. The top five also included a camel-coloured coat, a green room, hummus and Tom Hardy. The site has recently doubled its UK users, and Brits have now pinned 1.6 billion items. THE MOST POPULAR FILMS AND TV SHOWS OF 2015 When Facebook (anonymously) scanned posts to find out what films and shows you were talking about in 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the most discussed film, as well as Fast & Furious 7 , Jurassic World and Avengers: Age of Ultron . TV shows included Game of Thrones , followed by The Walking Dead…

TIME TAKEN 10 minutes With Windows 10 you get a new-look desktop that combines the best bits of Windows 7 and Windows 8, so you’ll feel right at home. Because it’s so familiar you’ll be up and running with your new operating system in next to no time. Of course, there’s plenty that’s different, but Windows 10 is designed to make your computing life easier and even more streamlined than ever before. In this tutorial, we start the journey by looking at the new Start menu, and see what has changed and what you’ll find familiar from previous versions of Windows. Let’s get Started! 1 Pin an app to the Start Menu We’ll begin by adding programs to the new Start menu. If you’re familiar with how to do this…

TIME TAKEN 15 minutes he ability to have (and swap between) multiple desktops is a feature that has long been missing from Windows. If you use your PC for gaming, but also for office work, for example, it can be indispensable, (and less confusing) to have an individual desktop for each task. Here, we’ll walk you through Microsoft Virtual Desktops – a feature new to Windows 10. Virtual Desktops not only gives you more desktop space for separate task-related windows, but it also allows you to access what you need quickly and easily. And, because you’re not creating a virtual machine, you won’t take up any precious system resources or space with your additional desktops. Let’s get going! 1 Opening your Task View The Task View button sits to the…

TIME TAKEN 50 minutes Find your music  you’ve already got music on your computer, you can manage it easily by using the Libraries function in Windows. Simply open File Explorer from the desktop by clicking ‘Start > File Explorer’ or pressing [Windows] and [E], then browse to the relevant folder. Right-click on it, then click on ‘Include in library > Music’. View your libraries This makes it easier for Media Player to find your tracks. Open Windows Media Player, from the ‘All Apps’ section of the Start menu and then click ‘Organise > Manage libraries > Music’. This shows all of the folders currently in your library. Click ‘OK’ and Media Player automatically imports all of your tracks, if it hasn’t already done so. Play and switch to Playing Mode…

Your guide Matt Hanson says… “Windows Hello makes logging into Windows 10 easier – and more secure – than ever before” At a glance Skill level… Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 Locking your device with a password not only keeps your data secure in case you lose your PC, but protects you if you’re signed into various services, such as the Windows Store. Remember anyone who has access to your device can also use your account to buy apps and services. However, memorising a secure password, and entering it every time you turn on your PC, can be tedious – this is why Microsoft’s new Windows Hello feature in Windows 10 is such a welcome addition. It uses biometric data – such as your fingerprints or facial…

Your guide Richard Cobbett says… “Never open a file in the wrong application again! Make sure Windows knows which programs you like to work in, and point it in the right direction” At a glance Skill level… Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 File extensions don’t just help you identify the contents of each file, they also tell Windows what to do when you double-click on them. It needs to know that a JPG file, for instance, is an image that you want to look at, and that an MP3 contains music that you want to play. By default, Windows handles a wide assortment by itself, and is capable of performing a suitable action for each one. As you install more applications, however – each of which takes…

Your Mayan says… “Use the free Tor Browser Bundle to stay anonymous and browse the internet without the shadow of Big Brother looking over your shoulder” At a glance Skill level… Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 Tor, or The Onion Router as it’s also known, is a tool that creates a network to allow people to browse the web anonymously. This is because, out of principle, many people feel the government shouldn’t be snooping on their innocent information. Under normal circumstances, when you visit a website, your PC establishes a connection between it and the site. The site knows your IP address and where it’s coming from, and your internet service provider (ISP) knows which websites you are visiting. It works by creating a network of Tor…

As these gadgets need to have access to the internet at all times, there’s not much point trying to build a connected home without having the appropriate internet performance to go with it. A good broadband connection with a minimum speed of about 2MBps will help things ticking along nicely, while a Wi-Fi router with a speed standard of 802.11n or above will allow your devices to communicate properly without any hiccups. If you’re in need of an upgrade, most modern routers will be sufficient. The best? Netgear’s Nighthawk router is perfect for even the most demanding of wireless households. Alternatively, an older router can be given a new lease of life, and a more comprehensive wireless reach throughout the home, with a Wi-Fi extender. 3 things to do with…

When people think of Windows, the idea of work always seems to come to mind, whether it’s writing a document, formulating a spreadsheet or just checking your emails. Thankfully, we know your PC is a lot more than just a tool for sorting out the basics; Windows 10 is also an entertainment machine. If music is your favourite type of entertainment, you really are in luck. If you have a DVD drive you can insert a CD and use Windows Media Player to listen to tracks, but that’s a pretty old school way of doing things now. Services such as Spotify, Tidal and TuneIn offer ways of streaming music straight to your PC, and most of them are completely free to use. Of course, you can plug in a pair…

Since its release, back in July 2015, Windows 10 has proved to be a hit with people all over the world. The fact it was offered as a free download (for the first year, anyway) has helped, but the response to new features such as the Start menu and Desktop, has also been very positive. If you have Windows 7 or Windows 8 then installing Windows 10 is pretty straightforward, as long as you have a broadband connection. Just look out for the icon to upgrade (it will appear in your system tray), and follow the instructions once you’ve clicked on it. Naturally, some people have been holding back, waiting to upgrade once the new system has clearly proved itself. Whether you’ve been waiting to see how others got on…

Settings The Settings tab is the new control panel, you’ll find many customisation options easier to change here. Resolution is key Setting up your screen correctly ensures you are as productive as possible, and save your eyesight as well. Multi-App View This little button makes switching between apps much easier. Space Saving Removing old programs frees up storage space and means Windows won’t have to load up as many programs on startup. Cortana Your personal assistant, ask her for anything and she’ll see if she can help, or just search the internet for an answer. Backup It’s always a good idea to create a backup of files and documents, so you don’t have to worry about losing your work. TIME TAKEN 1 hour When it comes to productivity Windows 10…

TIME TAKEN 30 minutes irtual assistants are all the rage these days. There’s Google Now and Apple’s Siri, but loudest of the lot is Microsoft’s Cortana. It’s built right into Windows 10 (and Microsoft’s new Edge browser), ready and waiting to help you find information but also provide context-sensitive tools when travelling, entertaining or working. Cortana learns what you’re doing too, so it can anticipate your needs. Do you regularly travel to and from work with your laptop? Let Cortana know where those places are, and it’ll look out for traffic news and give you a heads up on when’s the best time to leave. You can use it to set up meetings, create reminders and provide tips for your next night out. Here’s how to get started… NICK’s best…

Your guide Ian Evenden says… “Use this simple, free ebook-reading app to enjoy different types of literature – old and new – from the comfort of your PC” At a glance Skill level… Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 There are many reasons why ebooks can be more convenient than their printed counterparts. They’re a lot lighter for one thing – a bagful of hardback books can really weigh you down. Also, any serious bookworm will know what it’s like to be spoilt for choice. Why take one book with you, when you can take one thousand? Finally, when it comes to packing, it’s always good to streamline, avoiding any clutter in your luggage. If you’re carrying a laptop, you can really keep things light and clutter-free with…

Do you remember how you felt when you bought your first PC? It was probably pretty exciting, and you were filled with the possibilities of the fun things your new machine could do. Your laptop or desktop was there to make your life easier and more creative. However, as time progresses, so does technology, and the things you can do have become even more incredible. Under all that plastic and metal lies a capable machine, and we’re here to show you how to use it to do more than you ever thought possible. Editing your action-cam movies? Check. Controlling your home’s heating? Check. Improving your health and fitness? Yep, it’ll do that too! It’s time to turn the page and rediscover the life-changing potential of your PC.…

“Sleep is incredibly important and if you’re not getting enough, your health can suffer” Getting regular exercise in our daily lives can be a bit of a chore, but it’s not always the doing it that’s the problem, it’s the how to do it that can be the biggest hurdle. For example, if you like running, you can don a pair of trainers and simply go out for a run round the block. It’ll make you feel like you’re getting fitter, but how do you really know you’re actually improving your fitness? An easy way to keep track of what you’re doing each time you exercise, whether it’s running, cycling or even just a spot of tennis, is to get yourself kitted out with a fitness tracker, which normally straps…

1 Spring clean your system It’s a very good idea to clean your PC inside and out. A can of compressed air blows dust out of vents, ports and keyboards, while uninstalling unnecessary or unused software can make a huge difference to your PC’s performance. You don’t have to spend money on software cleaning tools, though, as Windows can do most of it itself using tools such as Disk Cleanup. You only need additional tools such as CCleaner (free) to spring-clean your system’s registry and get shot of unwanted temporary files. You’ll get the most benefit from uninstalling unwanted programs, especially ones that start when your PC boots. 2 Upgrade to Windows 10 If you’re running Windows 7 or later, Windows 10 will make your PC feel shiny and new…

KEY FEATURES Asus E402MA Operating system Windows 8.1 Processor Intel Bay Trail-M Quad-Core N3540 processor @ up to 2.66GHz Storage 32GB eMMC RAM 2GB Ports 1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack, 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, HDMI out, Mini D-SUB VGA out, RJ45 Ethernet port Connectivity 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v 4.0, 10/100/Gigabit LAN Weight 1.65kg Screen size 14.6-inch ‘Auto HD’ 1366 x 768 Camera 640 x 480 resolution webcam Audio Sonic master stereo speakers Battery 2-cell 32Whrs Size 339 x 235 x 219mm There was once a time when nothing but netbooks consumed the sub-£200 price bracket, but fortunately Microsoft and its partners have recently done a lot to drive down the price of larger, considerably more usable laptops. With the advent of true cloud applications such…

KEY FEATURES Canon PowerShot G9 X Focal Length 10.2 – 30.6 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28 – 84 mm) Zoom Optical 3x, ZoomPlus 6x, Digital Approx. 4x (with Digital Tele-Converter approx. 1.6x or 2.0x [1]), Combined approx. 12x Megapixels 20.2 Video Full HD 60p Recording Monitor 7.5 cm (3.0”) Touchscreen LCD (TFT). 3:2 aspect ratio; approx 1,040,000 dots; capacitive type Flash Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, Slow Synchro Weight Approx 209 g (including battery and memory card) Dimensions 98.0 x 57.9 x 30.8 mm Every keen photographer dreams of a camera that has a decent-sized sensor yet is still small enough to carry around everywhere. The G9 X has a 1-inch sensor, a comparatively new type that’s four times larger than the 1/2.3-inch sensors in point-and-shoot cameras and more…

Routers, which sit between your computer and the internet, tend to be turned on and then forgotten about – but you could be missing out on a lot of cool features. To access your router you need its IP address, but this is easy to find in Windows. Right-click on the network icon to the lower-right of the screen (a monitor with a cable plugged into it, or a series of straight or curved bars) then choose ‘Open network and sharing centre’. Click the blue text to the right of ‘Connections’, then choose ‘Details’. You’ll see a series of numbers next to ‘IPv4 Default Gateway’. Type these into your web browser and you’ll be able to access your router’s interface. Instructions here vary by manufacturer, but generally you’ll be able…

Windows 10 offers many great new features and improvements from previous versions. Features include Cortana and the Edge web browser, as well as Windows-standard security tools, such as secure boot and Windows Defender. If you’re currently using Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic or Home Premium, or the standard Windows 8.1, this is the version you’ll get as part of your free upgrade. Windows 10 Pro is designed for more advanced operation, and includes a few more features, including the ability to host a Remote Desktop session, additional data security with Bitlocker and the Encrypted File System (EFS), additional networking components, and Hyper-V, which allows the creation of virtual machines. Windows 10 is also making its way to mobile devices with the Mobile and Mobile Enterprise editions, which will replace Windows…

1 Browse apps The front of the Store is designed to bring more relevant and popular apps and games to your attention. The first screen shows various picks and suggestions for great apps, along with category shortcuts, but you can scroll down to reveal the top apps in different categories, including free (always a winner), new and rising apps. Keep scrolling to access games. 2 The power of search It’s easy to find an app. Just tap, or click, in the search bar in the top right-hand corner of the Store, type in the name of the app you’re looking for and hit [Enter] to view suggested results. Use the ‘Refine’ categories on the left to narrow your search by content type, or click ‘Show all’ next to Apps or…

TIME TAKEN 40 minutes Find the app The Photos app should be sitting on your Start menu – look for a tile with a blue background. The app’s live tile is probably activated, so if you’ve already added images to your Pictures folder (or you’ve uploaded photos to your OneDrive account) you’ll probably find it’s displaying some of your personal images, if it’s not immediately obvious. Your first run If you don’t have photos in your OneDrive folder, and haven’t added any pictures yet, Photos probably looks a bit bare – there’s just a dark screen and a folder for screenshots. Prove to yourself that it’s working by taking a screenshot. To do this, press [Windows]+[Print Screen] together, or hold the [Windows] button and press the volume rocker if you’re…

“Smart homes include doors-locks that you can open or close just by standing near” Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ll have noticed there are oodles of smart gadgets available for your home. We’re not talking hi-fi speakers or a spangly blender here, what we mean when we mention the ‘smart home’ are things such as internet-connected thermostats, security cameras and even door-locks that you can open or close just by standing near. You really can create the dream home, and it’s not particularly expensive or overly complicated to do so. You can buy a starter smart home kit from your Currys PC World store for around £200, allowing you to lay the foundations. While the majority of these kits are designed to work with smartphones – allowing you…

RECON JET These sports glasses have a built-in heads-up display which, using GPS, reveals how fast you’re travelling and how far you’ve gone, in the corner of your eye. It can also connect to a variety of Bluetooth or ANT+ sensors. You can even take calls, take photos and record video. Price £360 www.reconinstruments.com BEDDIT If you like the sound of tracking your sleep habits, but you don’t want to have to wear something on your wrist while you sleep, Misfit’s Beddit could be the answer. Just strap the band to your mattress and Beddit will track a variety of data while you’re snoozing, such as your heart rate, movement and even how much you snore. It then wirelessly transfers this info to your smartphone so you can…

Internet PROXY ISSUES PERSIST AFTER UPGRADE Q I’ve upgraded my PC to Windows 10, but continue to be plagued by a particular problem. Every time I start my PC followed by my browser, I discover both ‘Use Proxy server for your LAN’ and ‘Bypass proxy server for local addresses’ are ticked under ‘Internet Options’. Most of the time these settings don’t particularly matter, but there are times when they do (and it’s annoying) – can you help me pinpoint the problem? Michael Cooper Graham’s solution These settings should be unticked by default, which indicated a third-party program or setting was responsible. Michael then remembered he’d invested in OnSpeed so that he could obtain a IP address from the UK while travelling abroad, and removing this resolved the issue. If you…

KEY FEATURES HP Pavilion Operating system WIndows 10 Processor 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3736F (quad-core, 2MB cache, 2.16GHz with Turbo Boost) Storage 32GB eMMC RAM 2GB DDR3L SDRAM Graphics Intel HD Graphics Ports 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x micro HDMI, headphone/mic combo jack, microSD card reader Connectivity 802.11b WLAN and Bluetooth Weight 1.12kg Screen 10.1-inch, 1,280 x 800 WXGA WLED IPS touchscreen display Camera HP TrueVision HD webcam (front-facing) with integrated digital microphone Size 264 x 173 x 19.81mm The HP Pavilion x2 has entered the scene as the most affordable 2-in-1 laptop that easily transforms between laptop and tablet modes by way of a detachable screen. The 10-inch hybrid comes outfitted with a moderately powerful Intel Atom processor and a bundled year of Office 365 and OneDrive cloud storage…

KEY FEATURES Capacity 2TB Connectivity Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 Max transfer speed 122mb/s. Dimensions 17.78 x 20.32 x 5.08 cm Weight 600g Features IP5X dust-resistant standard and IPX4 splash-resistant standard Whether it’s for internal or external use, hard drives are everywhere and everyone always needs one for something. They are indispensible, whether you’re studying, own a small business or just need somewhere safe and convenient to store your precious holiday photos. As we cannot stress enough, it’s always a good idea to back up your data! However, there are so many portable hard drives on the market and seemingly all function well to some extent in terms of speed and portability. So what makes a hard drive good? Well, it all depends on you. If you want something small, that can…

THE 50 BEST FREE WINDOWS APPS Save money by raiding the Windows Store for the best free apps! THE TOP 20 BRAIN GAMES FOR WINDOWS Get your grey matter working with your PC! HOW TO... • Use Plex to watch movies at home • Turn your PC into a Wi-Fi hotspot • Perform advanced searches in Google * Contents subject to change Catch up with us on… www.facebook.com/windowsmag www.twitter.com/windowsmag www.facebook.com/windowsmag…