Table of contents for August 2017 in Windows Help & Advice

You could say that if there’s one thing Windows is guaranteed to be good at, it’s annoying people. With each new release comes a host of new features, while existing features get dropped or moved somewhere obscure. Then there’s the frustrating problems caused by glitchy hardware or misbehaving apps, never mind the shortcomings of the internet and the questions of security and privacy. We’ve rounded up over 40 of the biggest annoyances we’ve come across – with your help through the pages of Support Squad – in the years we’ve been running Windows. We’ve dug out workarounds and fixes, and found ways to restore missing features. We’ve focused on those niggles that have most universal appeal, and made sure our solutions are easy to follow. We cover everything from fixing…

Problems with your CD or DVD drive? There’s no longer a dedicated troubleshooter for this problem, so you’ll need to search for a solution at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060 – here you’ll find a handy step-by-step guide that covers most of the steps you’ll need to follow to resolve the issue, such as making sure the drive is visible in Windows, and that third-party burning software (particularly if it was installed prior to you upgrading to Windows 10) isn’t responsible for the problem. If you’re struggling to burn DVDs or CDs, eliminate all software problems before assuming the drive itself is faulty (remember, some drives use different lasers for CD and DVD, so the drive may appear to work when in fact it needs replacing if you’re able to burn or read one…

Microsoft is incredibly keen for you to use Office 365, which is why Windows 10 will regularly prompt you to download and install it. But if you get fed up with its nagging, click Start and locate the ‘Get Office’ shortcut. Right-click this and choose Uninstall to remove it. If you’re an Office 365 user you may be frustrated by the way it works with OneDrive, saving directly to the cloud by default rather than to your local OneDrive folder. To stop this behaviour, you need to open each Office app in turn, then choose Options from the File tab on the ribbon. Select Save and tick ‘Save to Computer by default’. You’re not done yet – next, click ‘^’ in the Taskbar notification area, right-click the OneDrive cloud icon…

You can regulate the amount of time your child spends on screen each day when using either an Xbox or a PC by visiting Microsoft’s family page at https://account.com/family. You could, for example, set either a maximum daily allowance – which enables them to use an Xbox or PC for up to three hours per day, say – or you can set it so it only allows them access during certain times, such as between 10am and 5pm. To get started visit https://account.microsoft.com/family and click Screen Time next to your child’s name. Click ‘Set limits for when my child can use devices’ to switch on this feature – there are separate options for Xboxes and Windows PCs. Click the drop-down menu next to Daily Allowance to set an overall limit…

Very young children can struggle when entering passwords to access their Microsoft account, but you can make it easier for them by setting a picture password: instead of typing a password, your child simply clicks or taps on certain places on the image to log on instead. To set up a picture password ask your child to sign in to your PC and then type ‘Accounts’ in the search box. Click on ‘Your account picture and profile settings’ and a new window will open. Choose ‘Sign-in options’. Scroll down to the Picture Password section and click Add. Re-enter your child’s Microsoft account password. Next, click Choose Picture and navigate to the image your child has chosen to sign in. Click ‘Open’ then use your mouse to position the picture. Once…

When the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update arrives in September, Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana will help you pick up where you left off on any device, even as you switch from PC to phone. Although most of us aren’t talking to our PCs in the way Microsoft would like us to, Cortana’s artificial intelligence is useful in a multitude of ways other than speech. So, for example, it will be able to predict which apps that you might tap or click on next, depending on what you’ve been doing on your phone. Switching between apps in Windows 10 has always been easy thanks to Task View, but in the new update there will be a timeline aspect to it as well – so you can effectively get back to where…

UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN MISSING in action since the Y2K Bug failed to destroy civilisation, you already have some form of networking in your home. A typical home network combines wired and wireless networking, with your main PC, possibly a printer, and perhaps a games console plugged into a router using an Ethernet cable, and other devices – those in other rooms as well as mobile devices – connecting wirelessly. At the centre of your network lies your modem and router (or modem router if you have an all-in-one unit). This acts as a bridge between the network in your home – a Local Area Network, or LAN – and the world’s best-known Wide Area Network (WAN), the Internet. It’s possible you only use your network for accessing the Internet, but…

YOU’LL NEED THIS KODI Download from www.kodi.tv or install it through the Windows Store (choosing the latter option ensures that it updates automatically). WHEN IT COMES TO CONSUMING MEDIA – movies, photos, home video, and music – on your PC, there’s no substitute for Kodi. It’s equally at home providing you with a big-screen friendly interface for locally stored content as streaming media over the Internet. You can – with the right help (as in this feature) – even use it as a front end for playing classic games from yesteryear. The basics of Kodi are reasonably straightforward: Point it to your local music, movie, and picture folders, and you’re good to go. That said, the user interface does come with a bit of a learning curve attached, and some…

Windows STOP WINDOWS FROM LOSING FOCUS Q It’s an annoying glitch, but sometimes – for no apparent reason – the active window I’m working in loses focus – nothing replaces it, just outlines of all open windows. I have to click on the window to bring it back again. What’s causing this problem? And how can I resolve it? Nick Eastmann Rob’s solution Sometimes this problem – called ‘stealing focus’ can be traced to a third-party program. A tool like Focus (www.happydroid.com/ focus) can help you identify this. Download focus.zip, then extract focus.exe from the archive and double-click it. After a short pause, a command prompt window will appear. Minimise this and carry on as normal – as you switch active windows, it’ll record the change. Just wait until the next…

When not actually using applications, the Windows desktop is where you’ll spend much of your time, moving files about, hunting for that obscure application you installed six months ago and suddenly need, or lining up your windows so that they fill the space perfectly (a time-wasting pastime that’s all but dead now thanks to window snapping). In Windows 10, the desktop and the taskbar get a few new tricks that make working with files and folders even easier, and the new search bar means pulling up an application you don’t use often is a breeze. Follow these tips to a happy start… 1 Show desktop/peek The Show Desktop button isn’t marked, and some people don’t even know it exists. Press this anonymous section at the extreme right of the taskbar,…

Huawei is a Chinese technology manufacturer best known for its selection of high-end phones, such as the Huawei P10 or Mate 9, but now the company is expanding into laptops too. The MateBook X is the company’s first attempt at making a laptop and it’s positioned as a direct competitor to Apple’s MacBook. It features a high-quality and slimline design, top-of-the-range internal specs and Huawei wants this to be competition for some of the best ultrabooks on the market. As the MateBook X is the Huawei’s first attempt, you may be nervous about buying a laptop from the company, but there are a lot of impressive features here for the money, and there’s a good chance you may choose this as your next Windows machine. Price and availability Huawei launched…

Game-streaming website twitch.tv is, to many, an oddity. Owned by e-commerce giant Amazon, Twitch is a service primarily based around players broadcasting their gameplay live to the world. That might sound dull or – whisper it – pointless, but it turns what’s often a solitary pursuit into something that’s half-social and half-performance, and attracts a huge audience: certain individuals have attracted over 200,000 concurrent viewers, while some competitive e-sports streams have topped over one million. Twitch has been able to achieve these heights partly because of its history of user interaction, and many streamers make a living from sharing their play with viewers. Popular games – such as Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, a 100-player battle royale on a weapon-filled island – mean viewers get a chance to game with their heroes. But…

Let’s start by checking that System Restore is enabled (it’s switched off every time Windows 10 performs a major update). Type ‘system restore’ into Cortana’s search box and then choose ‘Create a restore point’. Check your system drive – if it’s off, select it and click Configure… Choose ‘Turn on system protection’, then set the slider to 5GB or 5% of available space before clicking OK. Worried that Windows Update might suddenly attempt to reboot without warning while you’re using your PC? Click Settings > ‘Update & security’ and choose ‘Change active hours’ under Windows Update. Set your start and end times – and Windows Update won’t automatically restart during these hours. While you’re here, select Advanced Options > ‘Choose how updates are delivered’, then select ‘PCs on my local…

One of the annoying things about upgrading Windows is when you suddenly discover that your older hardware is no longer supported. You plug it in, and either nothing happens, Windows tells you drivers aren’t available or – in the case of AMD graphics – it installs a basic display adapter that’s stuck at a low resolution. Before you throw out the baby with the bathwater, press [Win] + [Pause/ Break] to open the System Control Panel and confirm your operating system type (32-bit or 64-bit). Now visit your hardware manufacturer’s website and seek out the latest version of its driver, making sure it matches your system type – Windows 8, 7 and even Vista drivers should work. If you own two or more printers, it can be a hassle switching…

Let’s start by tightening Windows 10’s privacy controls. Even if you diligently went through the setup wizard when you installed the current Creators Update, it can be confusing knowing which settings to pick – and even then, you’ll find that there are other privacy tweaks you should consider applying. Windows 10 thoughtfully scatters these settings far and wide throughout your PC, but by downloading the latest version of the free O&O Shutup10 tool from www.oo-software.com/en/ shutup10 you can view and manage them easily. Once downloaded, double-click OOSU10.exe and give it administrator access when required. If you’ve previously run the tool, it’ll detect previous settings; otherwise, you’ll see a list of switches you can click on for an explanation. Either flick switches manually, or go with O&O Shutup10’s recommendations via the…

“From here you can quickly switch or set defaults for email, maps, music, photos, video and web browser” When a program controls a file association, it will always open when you double-click that file type. Windows 10 makes it harder for third-party programs to seize control of file associations, but it’s still possible, and every time a new Windows update is released, you can easily be tricked into handing back associations to Microsoft’s choice of app, not yours. Start fixing problems by clicking Start > Settings > Apps > ‘Default apps’. From here you can quickly switch or set defaults for email, maps, music, photos, video and web browser – just click the appropriate button and choose your desired app. Other universal changes can be made too – start by…

DNS Servers (sometimes known as ‘nameservers’ act as a type of virtual telephone directory for the internet, translating human readable web addresses such as www.microsoft.com into their corresponding IP address. If you configure your router to use OpenDNS’ FamilyShield nameservers, websites with unsuitable content will be blocked regardless of the type of web browser or device that is being used. The specific steps needed to set up FamilyShield on your router vary depending on the manufacturer, but you can find instructions for many of the most popular ones at http://bit.ly/2tEtqKW. Anyone who can connect to your network and knows your router password can change the DNS settings, so be sure to change the default password. This filter will apply to all devices and accounts on your network including those used…

Kodi runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, but you can also install it on your Android tablet (or jailbroken iPhone or iPad), plus downloaded dedicated distros for turning a low-powered computer, such as a net-top PC or Raspberry Pi, into a dedicated Kodi set-top box. Kodi recently dropped all support for its dedicated Kodibuntu distro, which paired Kodi with Ubuntu 14.04. Existing Kodibuntu/XBMCbuntu users should be able to update to Kodi 17.1 through the Terminal, though: $ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get-dist-upgrade If you’re new to running a dedicated Kodi machine, then you’re left with two choices. Raspberry Pi users are best served by OSMC (https://osmc.tv), which can also be installed on a jailbroken first-generation Apple TV. You can find links for downloading a tool to create the required…

The Start menu’s return was big news when Windows 10 launched, and it has evolved as the operating system has been updated. It’s become a fast, and efficient way to access apps and settings – Windows 8’s full-screen monstrosity is now a distant memory, thankfully! However, if you don’t like how the Start menu looks when you first pop it up on your fresh install of Windows 10, it doesn’t have to stay that way. It’s fully customisable in ways that were never possible in earlier versions of the operating system, and can be made to work in just about any way you want, standing out from its background for ease of reading, or automatically blending in with the colour scheme of whatever theme you have currently set on your…

With its screen size of 32-inches, the BenQ EW3270ZL Eye-Care Monitor is one of the largest monitor you could plonk on your desk, but for an asking price of £440 (around $570) it’s far from being the most expensive. BenQ has an excellent pedigree when it comes to monitors, so to get one this size at that price from such a trusted name is tempting. With the majority of monitors on desks these days measuring around 24-inches you’d think you need a heck of a lot of space on your desk to accommodate a 32-inch model. However, the BenQ EW3270ZL’s simple design ensures it doesn’t take up as much space as you fear, while its large screen size and high resolution give you plenty of screen real estate. And although…

You can pick up a Bluetooth speaker for peanuts these days, but when it comes to performance settling for a sub-£100 speaker is often a false economy – with bass an alien concept and less power than the Lib Dems, you might as well use a tin can on a string. So if you’re serious about sound quality it’s worth investing in a decent speaker that can do justice to your treasured tunes. With that in mind, we’ve summoned six premium wireless speakers costing between £100 and £500, all equipped with superior sound tech and swanky designs that’ll turn your music files into a thing of unparalleled beauty. 1 Harman Kardon Go + Play £221.99 , harmankardon.co.uk With its solid stainless steel handle and durable fabric finish, this stylish, robust…

Alienware Area-51 From £1,649, www.dell.com/alienware Announced at E3 in June, the updated Alienware Area-51 is a Windows 10 desktop for gamers, ‘megataskers’ and those of us who simply want the most powerful hardware that money can buy. First up is the Area-51 Threadripper Edition. On sale at the end of July, it’s the first PC to be equipped with AMD’s incredible 16-core/32-thread Threadripper processor. It will be followed at the end of summer by a Core-X Series edition, which will feature Intel’s 4.5GHz 10-core Skylake-X Core i9 CPU at the top-end. Whichever edition you choose, you’ll be able to kit out the Area-51’s ‘triad’ design case with up to three discrete graphics cards, up to 64GB of RAM and your choice of M.2 SSD, hard drive, hybrid drive and optical…

Many useful settings are hidden away in the Registry, but if you download and run the free Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4.2 tool from www.thewindowsclub.com/ www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-4-windows-10 ultimate-windows-tweaker-4-windows-10 – a mere 495KB – you’ll find over 200 tweaks to wrest back control of Windows. Highlights include shortcuts to several Windows tools on the main screen, while the Customisation section contains no less than four tabs packed with settings, such as restoring the classic battery and volume control pop-ups in the Taskbar notification area. Look under the ‘This PC’ tab to restore classic system tools hidden away in Windows 10. Another favourite of ours: switch to the Additional section and then click Enable Windows Photo Viewer to bring back the classic Windows 7 photo-viewing tool. You then navigate to Settings > Apps >…

Make sure your hard drives are in tip-top condition. You can check their physical health using tools such as Speccy (www.piriform.com/speccy), which uses a drive’s S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) status to alert you to early signs of potential disk problems. Also periodically run the Disk Check tool outside of Windows to pick up errors the Windows-based tool seems to miss. To do that, right-click the Start button and choose ‘Command Prompt (admin)’, then type the following line: $ chkdisk c: /f /r Press [Y] when prompted, then reboot your PC to run the disk check, which will attempt to fix any errors it finds. If the disk check keeps appearing on startup, click Start > Settings > ‘Update & security’ > Recovery and click ‘Restart now’ under ‘Advanced…

There’s no foolproof way to completely stop yourself from receiving spam – if your email address falls into the hands of a spammer, all you can do is find effective ways of filtering it out. Consider installing a third-party tool such as Mailwasher (www.mailwasher.net) that you can use to screen your emails. Once installed, take the time to ‘train’ the app so it recognises the kind of spam emails you receive and then configure it so it deletes them automatically before they reach your inbox. You can also minimise spam by switching to plain text view by default and never opening a spam message – it’ll almost certainly contain some form of tracking device to alert the spammer to the fact your address is active and in use. If you…

Want to play DVD-Videos in Windows 10? Both Kodi (www.kodi.tv) and VLC Media Player (www.videolan.org/vlc) offer free support (including menu access) – VLC should work with non-region 2 discs too. Simply pop the disc in and it should play like normal. Blu-ray discs are trickier – the following free add-on should allow you to play most older AACS-encrypted discs along with a handful of BD+ discs too. Head over to www.labdv.com/aacs/ where you’ll find a download link for a portable version of VLC that includes the required libraries to play Blu-ray discs. Extract this to your hard drive, and ignore any warnings from your security software (it’s safe). Next, download, install and run the aacs-updater tool, which in turn downloads and installs the latest AACS encryption keys. Click OK when…

Assuming your child has previously been using your PC, it’s likely they already have their own user account. In order to become part of your family group, you will need to add them in your system settings. In Windows 10, children must have a Microsoft account to be added to a family. The advantage of this is that any settings you apply to limit web content, applications or screen time will apply no matter which of your Microsoft devices your child uses. While the steps in this guide are unlikely to harm your PC in any way, you do need an up-to-date version of Windows 10 to use some of the parental control features, so make sure to back up your data and run an update before getting started. Begin…

While using Microsoft’s parental controls can give you some peace of mind, the tools aren’t perfect. For instance, the Allow and Block lists, as well as the adult web content filter, only apply to Microsoft web browsers. This is mitigated a little by the fact that child accounts won’t run popular web browsers such as Firefox or Chrome. More tech-savvy readers may have already spotted the glaring loophole: if your child is able to install a browser which isn’t listed under Blocked Apps then they’ll have unrestricted access to the whole of the world wide web. The easiest way to make sure this isn’t happening is to look in the Activity section of the Microsoft family page. Ask your child about any applications you don’t recognise. If this is happening…

Windows 10 S is a special new version of Windows 10 that made its debut on the new Surface Laptop. It’s designed for those who value stability and security – particularly in education – over and above flexibility. That’s because it only enables you to install apps from the Windows Store and so – according to Microsoft – will be more reliable over time. It’s impossible to know whether that will be the case currently, of course, and it’s also fair to say that Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro are pretty stable as is, even after having a stack of apps installed on them. The main market for 10 S will be education, where it’s desirable to lock down systems so that apps and programs can’t be installed…

The Rom Collector Browser add-on enables you to transform Kodi into a hub for playing games as well as accessing your media. It supports standalone games as well as emulator ROMs – these need to have been configured already (for example, through a GUI-friendly MAME variant, such as MAMEUI: www.mameui.info). Assuming these are all in place, go to Settings > File Manager, and choose Add Source to create a source pointing toward your game emulator folder (or parent folder, if multiple emulators are installed). Now install the Rom Collector Browser add-on via Add-ons > Download > ‘Program add-ons’. Once installed, launch it, and choose Yes to create a configuration (config) file. Choose the online option, followed by your platform, before pointing the add-on to the emulator program folder containing your…

Microsoft’s virtual personal assistant takes its name from a character in the Halo series of videogames. That incarnation of Cortana – an AI who is outwardly female (having been created from the brain patterns of a female scientist) and never seems to have been provided with quite enough clothes – can hack alien computer encryption and fly captured spaceships. The Windows 10 version is perhaps a little less powerful, but comes in useful all the same. She can search using natural language terms, and by using voice activation just like Siri does on your iPhone. And if the idea of voice controlling your PC alarms you, or perhaps your computer isn’t equipped with a mic, then you can still interact with Cortana through the keyboard, typing your queries for Cortana…

There’s no doubt that 2015’s Surface Pro 4 had its share of issues, many of which took too long to rectify or at least patch. With the new, numberless, Surface Pro, it’s obvious that Microsoft has taken that feedback to heart. First, the battery life has been improved by as much as 32%, based on our testing, in a design that refines the existing template without tangibly adding any weight or thickness. Second, Microsoft has vastly improved the Surface Pen, Type Cover and even the Surface Pro hinge to make it a stronger laptop-and-tablet replacement. Design At first glance, the new Surface Pro looks just like the Surface Pro 4. It even has the same gorgeous, 12.3-inch PixelSense touchscreen. But a keen eye will notice key differences. For one thing,…

Premium compact cameras with 1.0-inch sensors have carved out a niche for themselves over the last few years, thanks to the fact that these relatively large sensors deliver better image quality than the thumbnail-sized chips found in most compacts. They’ve also come to appeal to a broad range of users. That said, many 1.0-inch compact cameras have tended to focus on enthusiast photographers, offering a host of advanced controls at the expense of size. Recognising this, Canon launched the PowerShot G9 X, a truly pocketable 1.0-inch compact that stripped away some of the more photographer-oriented features, while still delivering excellent image quality. So what does this update have to offer? Like the outgoing PowerShot G9 X, the G9 Mark II includes a 20.1MP CMOS sensor, but teams it with Canon’s…