Table of contents for December 2016 in Windows Help & Advice

We all get hung up on a Windows problem now and then. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. But going in well-equipped means you’re more likely to succeed. We have a huge benefit here on Windows Help & Advice : you, the readers, talk to us a lot, so we know the sort of problems you face from day to day. That’s why we’ve dedicated the front of this issue to answering your questions, fixing those perennial niggles and making sure that if you hit a snag again, you’ll know what to do. Also this issue, we’ve put our weight behind a topic many of you probably don’t ever think about – but you should! User accounts, as you’ll find out on page 60 , are…

Having a modern ‘smart home’ means more than just controlling your WiFi kettle from the bedroom. It’s about embedding connected technology into every aspect of your life, and there’s a range of products available to help you. Amazon’s Dash Buttons devices allow you to top up stocks of household products with one button-press, handily sticking to walls and doors to make their use even easier. And it turns out they can be used for more than just ordering loo roll. All they’re doing is sending a signal to your router and on to Amazon – change that signal, and you change what the button does. You’ll need a computer that’s always on (a Raspberry Pi is ideal), some Python coding know-how, and an IFTTT account. IFTTT ('If This, Then That')…

18 MINUTES Is how long it would take to travel from London to Manchester with Hyperloop technology. Hyperloop is in very early testing in the US, but could see trains running at 760mph in tubes where the air has been pumped to reduce resistance. 500FT The height you’re allowed to fly in the US without bothering air traffic control. A Google company, Project Wing, has been making use of this figure for a venture that uses drones to deliver burritos to students. Virginia Tech attendees can order the snack on a smartphone and it will descend a short while later, landing in a space the size of a doorstep. 30% The amount of Americans who only have between one and ten apps on their smartphones (shedding light on who buys…

Your guide Cat Ellis says… “Transfer those clips to your PC and let’s get started editing!” When the time comes – and it always comes – that you want to do more with your Windows computer, our Explore section is the place to visit. Each month we pack in tutorials covering a range of subjects suitable for all levels of expertise. This month we show you how to share and improve your WiFi connection, make beautiful art, keep yourself much more organised, and even catalogue an entire collection. Plus, we’ll show you how to make beautiful movies from your home videos. It’s all here!…

Your guide Nick Peers says… “Improve your WiFi network’s performance by reducing interference and congestion” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 SIGNAL STRENGTH This ranges from -100dBm (minimum) to -10dBm (maximum), and decreases the further away you are from your router. LINK-SPEED Gives you an estimate of your current network speed as well as listing the maximum theoretical speed for your connection. NETWORK INFO Get detailed information about your network here – much of it is cryptic for less experienced users, but helps with troubleshooting. ALERT SYMBOLS These symbols turn orange if there’s an issue with the connection, channel (interference) internet access or security. SWITCH ADAPTER If you have multiple WiFi adapters installed, click the…

Your guide Rob Mead-Green says… “Get arty with the brilliant Fresh Paint – the free painting application from Microsoft” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 SIDEBAR Contains options for all the things you need to do – from creating a new canvas and importing images, to app settings and printing. SUPPLIES This is where you’ll find brushes, paint tools, canvas options and a colour picker. The coloured squares are your current palette. TOOLS Here you’ll find Undo / Redo tools and the paint dryer, which enables you to layer colours on top of each other without them blending. COLOUR PICKER Select the colour picker to bring up a range of preset colours – or mix…

Your guide Gary Marshall says… “Save videos from YouTube to watch offline at a time that is convenient for you!” There are many reasons why you would want to download YouTube videos, as anybody who’s going to be in a poor coverage area, who has a capped mobile broadband data plan or who won’t be able to stream high-quality video will appreciate the ability to download YouTube videos for offline use.It’s also handy if you suspect that the video is about to disappear for sinister reasons too… Downloading videos from YouTube couldn’t be simpler, although the methods you employ will depend on the device you’re using. In this guide we show you how to download YouTube videos for free, as well as looking into the ethics and legality of…

One annoyance with Windows is how it bakes support for OneDrive into the operating system, while separating its folders from your user account. That means you end up with two of all your key user folders. Interestingly, you can merge OneDrive’s folders with those in your user account, making things simpler to manage, but it’s a one-way process – unmerging the two later isn’t an option. If that doesn’t put you off, browse to your user folder, right-click your Documents folder, and choose ‘Properties > Location tab’. Click ‘Move’, then browse to the corresponding directory inside your OneDrive folder, and click ‘Apply’. Click ‘Yes’ to move existing files into the new location, then read the warning before clicking ‘Yes’. Repeat for any other system folders you wish to integrate. One…

TIME TAKEN 20 minutes CORTANA Your personal assistant – ask it for anything and it’ll see if it can help, or just search the internet for an answer. EDGE The Edge browser has powerful new features in the Anniversary Update. START MENU The Anniversary Update has revamped the Start menu completely. ACTION CENTRE Click the Notifications icon at the bottom right of the screen to launch the Action Centre, which gives you lots of quick links. TASKBAR The Taskbar has new features in the Anniversary Update. Click here to see what it has to offer (especially Hidden items). QUICK LINKS Use the quick links here if you want to quickly connect to a WiFi network, launch Tablet Mode or even dim your screen. OUR BEST TIP! Explore all the menus…

You can trust our reviews Our reviewers are 100 per cent independent, with years of experience in the world of computing. Our rigorous testing procedures mean that only genuine, high-quality products are awarded high star ratings. If you see an item of hardware bearing a high score, you can be confident that it is an excellent product. We choose the best products Thousands of new PC products are released every year and choosing between them can be an impossible task. Our experts select only the best hardware and software to feature in this magazine. Even better, our star rating system makes it simple to find the best products, giving you a fast, trustworthy guide. How we review Our expert reviewers guarantee to test every piece of hardware rigorously and thoroughly,…

Photo sharing has been part of our lives ever since someone had the bright idea of squeezing a camera into a phone, but never before have we had more opportunities to get our photos seen and shared. We’re not talking about uploading them to gallery sites such as Flickr or 500px, although both those services make great homes for your images. We’re talking about something more immediate, that will get your photos on the screens of your friends’ phones seconds after you press send, like an improved version of the MMS. LA-based Snapchat had this market to itself for a while, but has recently come in for some competition in the form of Stories, which comes from the labs of Facebook-owned Instagram. The two pieces of software work in similar…

Train Cortana Cortana can be really useful, but to get the most out of it you need to make sure it’s set up to your requirements. By default, it will respond to anyone who talks to it, but one of the app’s settings lets you have Cortana recognise the sound of just your voice, in case you don’t want any of your friends, family or work colleagues making use of the tool. Click inside the Cortana search box, then click the cog icon to the left. Make sure the ‘Hey Cortana’ shortcut is turned on, so Cortana can be launched with your voice, then select ‘Learn how I say “Hey Cortana”’. After reading out six test phrases, you can check the option marked ‘Try to respond only to me’. Cortana…

1 Apple’s latest smartphone is the iPhone... A) 6 B) 7 C) 8 2 Samsung’s new phablet is the Galaxy Note... A) 6 B) 7 C) 8 3 Which version of Windows still has a 47% market share? A) 6 B) 7 C) 8 4 Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is said to belong to which generation of videogame consoles? A) 6 B) 7 C) 8 5 Intel’s Kaby Lake processors will be which generation? A) 6 B) 7 C) 8 6 As of 2016, how many Fast and Furious movies have been released? A) 6 B) 7 C) 8…

Sennheiser HD 630VB £400 www.sennheiser.com Once the din of the day has been left behind, it’s good to sink into a comfy chair, slide on your favourite pair of cans, slap on some high-resolution acoustics and just listen. Sennheiser’s latest HD 630VBs are designed with comfort and relaxation in mind, and they’re built with passion, too. The combination of build materials and mechanisms come together to create an absolute treat for the ears. Try them and hear it for yourself……

Packed with informative tutorials Every issue, we guarantee to pack the magazine with great tutorials teaching you all the best things you can do with your PC. Each article features step-by-step instructions to make learning new skills fast and enjoyable. Customise Windows to work your way We all know how to do the basics but getting the most from Windows isn’t always easy. Our dedication to the operating system means you get the very best tips and tricks for all versions of Windows. Get more from your favourite websites We all have our list of favourite sites but often we miss out on great features because they’re difficult to use or hidden from sight. We’ll show you how to do more online, for a more satisfying web life. Discover new…

Your guide Tim Hardwick says… “Share the wired or wireless internet connection of your Windows 10 PC with other users and devices with one of these two methods” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 TIM’S BEST TIP For a secure WiFi hotspot, use a combination of numbers and lowercase/ uppercase letters in your network password. Have you ever found yourself away from home with access to only a single wired internet connection, but with various wireless devices that you and your family want to connect up? Perhaps you’ve stayed in a hotel room where WiFi access is charged based on the number of users that log on. Or maybe you just want to temporarily extend your home…

Your guide Tim Hardwick says… “Microsoft’s browser now supports extensions – make sure Adblock Plus is the first one you install” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 TIM’S BEST TIP Donations let developers improve Adblock faster. Donate at https://adblockplus.org/en/donate Back in August 2016, Microsoft released the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, a free download that brings new features and security benefits to the company’s flagship operating system. The update brings several hefty improvements to Microsoft’s Edge browser, including better power saving and support for modern web standards like HTML5. But perhaps the most visible new feature is the introduction of Edge Extensions. Extensions are plug-in tools that let you add features to your browser and personalise…

Your guide Rob Mead-Green says… “Discover the easy way to transfer, view, share and edit all of the files you have stored in the cloud, using the amazing TopDox app for Windows 10” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 ROB’S BEST TIP Sign up for a monthly plan and you’ll be able to do even more, including converting documents between different file formats. TopDox is a free application for Windows 10 (http://bit.ly/2cC0BUw) that gives you easy access to files stored in the cloud, whether you’re using DropBox, Google Drive, Box or Microsoft OneDrive. You can get access to all of your files stored on one cloud service for free, with additional services available via a…

Just starting your Windows journey? Stumbling over the changes made in the recent Anniversary update? Or maybe you just want to learn something new about Windows 10. This is the section for you! There’s not enough space to tell you absolutely everything you need to know here, but Windows Help & Advice always has your back. Starting on page 14, we’ve answered the questions we get asked most often. And if there’s something more specific you need to know, our Support Squad is on hand – just head over to page 72 to find out more. www.facebook.com/windowsmag…

TIME TAKEN 20 minutes BEST TIP If you’re using Virtual Desktops, move between them by holding down [Ctrl]+[Win] and pressing an arrow key. There are many ways to increase your productivity in Windows 10 – but it’s not always obvious unless you know how. But fear not, we’re here to help you unleash the potential of your machine and make your life even easier, whether it’s creating Virtual Desktops to give you the effect of having multiple PCs, tapping on secret shortcuts so you can see everything on your machine at once, or using the power of your voice to command your PC into work. And, don’t forget – all these top tips are safe to do on your machine, so there’s no need to back up your PC before…

The lithium batteries in Samsung’s recently launched Galaxy Note 7 have such a bad habit of bursting into flames that they’re being banned from use on board aircraft. The manufacturer’s recall and replacement scheme has knocked a hefty $11bn off its share price. Of the 2.5 million Note 7s sold only 35 have combusted, but the fires are still a major embarrassment to Samsung.…

This suite of image editor plugins is now completely free. If you’re serious about digital photography, it’s a must-have. While the tools can be used as plugins for apps such as Photoshop, they also work as standalone apps. They are: Analog Efex Pro, which brings a vintage film look; Color Efex Pro to manipulate the colours in your photos; Dfine for digital noise reduction; HDR Efex Pro for blending high dynamic-range images; Sharpener Pro for sharpening; Silver Efex Pro for making monochrome masterpieces; and Viveza for controlling colour and exposure. While not particularly user-friendly as individual apps – they don’t appear on the Start menu and tend to quit without warning after saving your image – they’re very powerful, and if used in conjunction with another image-editing app can bring…

Your guide Nick Peers says… “Data Crow makes it easy to catalogue your books, media, software – in fact, anything you like” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 DATA TYPE Use these to select your collection type: books, contacts, containers, images, general media, movies, music and software. ITEM MANAGEMENT These buttons allow you to manage your catalogue by adding, deleting and even visualising (through charts) your items. NAVIGATION STRUCTURE Items are organised into a hierarchical structure of your choosing – here we’re organising by genre and series name. EDIT ITEMS Need to make changes or add extra information? Navigate to the item using the left-hand pane, then right-click it. ITEM DETAILS The selected item appears…

Your guide Cat Ellis says… “Use ShotCut to transform the photos and video clips from your phone into a stunning movie” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 PLAYLIST A list of all the files (videos, photos and audio) you want to use in your movie. Drag and drop files from your desktop or Windows Explorer. VIDEO TRACK (V1) The visual content of your movie – both stills and video. Drag items from the playlist and assemble your movie here. AUDIO TRACK (A1) The soundtrack for your movie. This should ideally be the same length as the video track – you can clip it to fit. MEDIA CONTROLS Use these to play, pause, rewind and fast…

Your guide Cat Ellis says… “Ditch those archaic sticky notes and do away with paper to-do lists – Trello puts you in charge!” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 BOARD TITLE Create multiple boards for different tasks, and invite different people to collaborate on each one. LIST A sub-task or topic that makes your main goal more manageable. EXTRA INFORMATION A speech bubble here indicates the card has a comment associated with it. A clock icon represents a deadline. CARD One specific task that needs to be completed. You can drag and drop them into different lists. MEMBERS The people working together with you on your board. They must have their own accounts on Trello.…

Your guide says… “Regular backups are essential to avoid accidentally losing your treasured files, and with AOMEI Backupper makes the process painless” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 CAT’S BEST TIP Always include the current date in your backup names so you can easily identify the right one to restore. Think about what you store on your PC – photos, music, movies, your own work documents and your children’s schoolwork. All of those precious and possibly irreplaceable files could be lost in moments as a result of a virus, accidental deletion, theft, hardware failure or just plain bad luck. You’re only ever one spilled cup of coffee away from disaster. The only way to avoid…

Let’s face it, many of us are stuck with a dull account picture – if so, it’s not your fault… If you set up your PC quickly, you may have been lumbered with the dreaded ‘grey head’ icon. Luckily, Cortana is here to help make you look good! As ever, type what you need into the search bar to be taken to the exact place you need to go in Windows’ settings – there’s no need for any complex navigation to get there.…

We don’t always have unlimited funds to spend on a new laptop, particularly portable PCs are prone to prangs. The Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1, coming in at just £600, could be the solution. Find out what we thought of it on page 86. Then sit back and relax in front of a huge LG TV, first making sure your home is supremely comfortable – at least atmospherically – by putting a Nest thermostat in charge of your central heating. If a TV doesn’t tickle your fancy, how about a Bluetooth digital radio? Until next time… Nick Odantzis Deputy Editor windowsmagazine@futurenet.com…