Innehållsförteckning för Issue 4 från Windows Advisor

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is launching on 17 October, with Windows Mixed Reality headsets in tow, Microsoft announced at the IFA tradeshow in Berlin. That’s a bit later than expected, as this past April Microsoft committed to twice-yearly Windows 10 updates in March and September, in perpetuity. Microsoft is missing its very first deadline under the new system – but not by much. No new features were announced by Windows chief Terry Myerson at the event, but that’s to be expected since Windows Insiders have been testing the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update for months now. It won’t be quite as interesting as originally expected, as flagship crossdevice features teased at Microsoft’s Windows 10 Fall Creators Update unveiling in May – like an app Timeline and cloud clipboard…

Usually these lists of the best PC games with “Can you believe it’s already September?” But I think I speak for everyone when I say, “wow, we’re only halfway through 2017? Seriously?” This has been one of the busiest release windows I’ve ever seen, with dozens of major PC games already released this year. Yes, a few we were looking forward to turned out to be high-profile flops (cough Mass Effect: Andromeda cough), but there have also been some instant classics – Nier: Automata, Prey, Thimbleweed Park, and more. Look for those and more inside, as we round up the best PC games of 2017 – so far, at least. This autumn is looking even more packed. Prey Price: £24.95 from tinyurl.com/yanx24kk It’s not the story you tell, it’s how…

Your computer is slow. Annoyingly slow. You can add RAM, or buy a faster SSD, but that costs money. No, the first thing you should do is try to make Windows faster. Thus we present nine ways to speed up your PC without spending a penny. Be warned: there’s always a trade-off. More speed may mean less battery life, or even giving up a beloved program. You’ll have to decide what sacrifices you’re willing to make in order to increase Windows’ speed. Last spring, I bought a Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 310 as a second, smaller PC. I found it so slow it was painful. I used that machine for researching this article. The Miix still isn’t fast, but it’s a lot faster. 1. Give it the reboot If your PC…

One of the biggest improvements the Creators Update recently brought to Windows 10 was enhanced support for Precision Touchpads, the built-in mousepads on select laptops that support multi-touch gestures. As many a Mac user knows, the ability to use one-, two-, and three-finger gestures to navigate apps, switch desktops, and perform various clicks and selections can really speed up your workflow. Here’s how to configure these settings on your Windows 10 device. Open touchpad settings From the Start menu, go to Settings > Devices > Touchpad to access your touchpad options. You should see ‘Your PC has a precision touchpad’ at the top of this page. (If you don’t, your device doesn’t support a precision touchpad and you won’t see any of the associated options.) You’ll also see a toggle…

For nearly three years now, virtual reality on the PC has been a two-company game. Oculus and HTC, the Rift and the Vive. Sure, we’ve had others come and go – Razer’s OSVR headset, for instance. But in general, it’s been a two-headset market. In October we’ll have seven. On 17 October Microsoft will preside over the largest VR roll-out in history, overseeing the release of Windows Mixed Reality headsets from Dell, Lenovo, Asus, Acer, and HP, alongside the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Microsoft’s goal is to bring its titular ‘Mixed Reality’ to the masses – theoretically a spectrum of augmented and virtual reality tech, though these initial headsets are just VR headsets, really. So what’s it like? I went hands-on with the Dell Visor at PAX West recently,…

1. Check the power supply Laptops This is one of the most common problems. There are various things that can go wrong, from using the wrong laptop power supply (delivering the wrong voltate) to a blown fuse in the plug. It might be that your power supply has simply failed. First, make sure the battery has some charge. If you’re not sure, and there’s no power indicator on the battery itself, then remove it entirely and just use the mains charger. Double-check, too, that the charger is the right one for your laptop. Many laptops – especially from the same manufacturer – use the same size plug, and if you own more than one, it’s not too difficult to plug in the wrong power supply, which might provide a different…

Killing Cortana isn’t as easy as it used to be. When Windows 10 first released, turning off Cortana was as simple as flipping a switch in the digital assistant’s settings, but Microsoft removed the option in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Now there’s no obvious way to disable Cortana – but it is possible using not-so-obvious methods. Completely eradicating Cortana requires a quick registry edit, which we’ll detail here. If you don’t want Cortana spying on you but also detest the idea of mucking with your PC’s deepest software innards, our colleagues at PCWorld’s guide to privacy-boosting Cortana tweaks (at tinyurl.com/yaLya26t) can show you how to limit the personal information it sends Microsoft. Cortana will still run in the background with limited functionality if you don’t perform the registry edit,…