Table of contents for February 2017 in Windows Help & Advice

Windows has improved so much over the years, but there are still little things that can get in the way of enjoying your time on your PC. Whether it’s constant pop-up messages or hardware not behaving itself properly, these minor annoyances can often stop you doing the things you need to do. This issue we want to get rid of as many of these bugbears as we can. To kick things off, on page 16 , we have 100 great tips for Windows 10 that will show you plenty of the hidden settings. We also have a great feature on preparing a repair disc ( page 68 ), for those times when something goes really wrong, and don’t forget our regular Support Squad feature ( page 74 ) for…

What’s this? It’s a special edition of kid-favourite block-construction game Minecraft, specifically tailored for use in classrooms, introduced by Microsoft following its purchase of the game’s publisher, Mojang. Games? In the classroom? Don’t be too disgusted. What could possibly delight a child more than being allowed to play their favourite game at school, sharing a virtual world with all their friends? Not an awful lot. And Minecraft is the perfect game for the purpose. What makes it so suitable? While there are indeed zombies and skeletons to contend with in the endless world of Minecraft, that’s a small part of the game. It’s built around a huge number of elements that teachers can use to emphasise learning topics: artistry, construction, exploration, experimentation and collaboration are at its core, and setting…

If you’re a fan of books, comics, games and other digital entertainment, you can get these things for a hugely discounted price from the good folk at Humble. Not only do they run a store with money off the latest games, they run a series of concurrent bundles – packs of products available on a choose-your-own price basis for a limited time. You get to choose where your cash goes – whether it’s to the content creators, to Humble itself, to charity, or to a mix of the three. Recent bundles have included a huge pack of coding books, a massive archive of Doctor Who comics, and an absurd $30, 50-game bundle (with all proceeds going to charity) from the video-creating folks at the Yogscast. The transient and secretive nature…

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 Nick Odantzis says… “Are you struggling to take interesting photos? Well fear not, because here’s a simple way to make all your pics look really great!” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 NICK’S BEST TIP Make duplicates of your photos by copying and pasting them into a new folder. Despite the fast-paced progress of photographic technology, taking a great shot still isn’t as easy as the experts would like us to believe. There are so many factors to consider at the time of exposure, that it’s easy to mess things up. But rather than get stressed when you don’t get the instant results you’d like, you can pick up the pieces afterwards, even…

Your guide Nick Odantzis says… “VLC is a must-have app for anyone who has an ever-growing library of movies and music in lots of different formats” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 NICK’S BEST TIP Keep off the mouse cursor for a few seconds and the menu in a video will auto-hide, giving you a clear view. There are plenty of media players out there for Windows 10 – including the pre-installed ‘Films & TV’ media player, which is how your media will open by default. But the one that really stands out is VLC. Available as a desktop version or a player specifically suited to Windows 10 touchscreens, there’s nothing better to handle your…

Your guide Nick Odantzis says… “Got a busy day ahead? I’ll show you how to keep pesky Windows 10 notifications under control so you can do more with your precious time” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 NICK’S BEST TIP If you’re somewhere where privacy is a concern and you need to leave your PC momentarily, you can turn off notifications that appear on the lock screen . The brain is a wonderful thing, capable of memorising many things. Only, it doesn’t always work that well in practice – some of us are more forgetful than others! This is why Windows notifications are such a valuable thing to have – they warn us of upcoming…

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. In this month’s Explore section, we help you take control of the Start Menu, so you can customise it to your every whim. We also show you how to get more from the Action Centre. www.facebook.com/windowsmag…

CONTROL NOTIFICATIONS Switch off notifications for those apps, programs and services you find annoying. SEE MORE You can now view all outstanding notifications for a selected app by clicking the ‘See more’ link. APP SETTINGS The quickest way to configure an individual app’s behaviour is to right-click it and choose ‘Go to notification settings’. PRIORITY LEVELS Notifications appear in three tiers: ‘top’ is assigned to a single app, while others are configured ‘high’ or ‘normal’. RESPONSE OPTIONS Click a notification to access it through its app. Click the arrow to view it in detail or ‘x’ to dismiss it when read. QUICK ACTIONS You can now rearrange all of your Quick Action buttons, not just those on the first row. The Action Centre is a vertical pane that appears at…

Every PC that’s connected to the internet needs antivirus software, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay for it. Many of the biggest developers of premium security software also offer free antivirus software that offers excellent protection from online threats. We’ve used the findings of expert virus lab AV-TEST (www.av-test.org) to evaluate the true effectiveness of their virus protection, but that’s only half the story. Your free antivirus software has to be running all the time, and if it annoys you with pop-up notifications or hits your system resources too hard, you’ll soon become frustrated. With all this in mind, we’ve collected four of the best free antivirus programs for your PC. So, let’s see which titles float our boat. Oh, and remember never run more than one antivirus…

If you’re starting from scratch, you should start with Scratch Fancy trying your hand as a programmer? It’s not nearly as intimidating as it might seem. If you’re starting from scratch, you should start with, er, Scratch. It’s a visual language developed by the computer wizards at MIT, specifically designed to help kids aged 6-16 learn coding concepts. That said, it’s equally valuable for older minds, although its output is limited to simple animations or games. You don’t even need to download anything – just head on over to http://scratch.mit.edu, click the ‘Create’ button in the header, and you’ll find yourself straight into the interface. Scratch includes many integrated tutorials that, in theory, can teach anyone how to use its drag-and-drop modules to learn the fundamentals of coding, and it’s…

The UK internet market is somewhat divided. There are the those who live close to a telephone exchange, or who are lucky enough to have fibre-optic cables in their street. These folk enjoy fast internet speeds from some of the best broadband connections in Europe. Then there are the huge number of people who fall outside that coverage area, limping along with sub-par broadband or even, in the cases of some rural areas, dusty dial-up connections or super-expensive satellite internet. Getting a better connection installed can be difficult, and whatever your data rate, you’re likely to be paying through the nose for it. The UK’s communication regulator, Ofcom, is aware of this. After reviewing the practices of BT and its broadband infrastructure-owning subsidiary Openreach, it has now demanded that the…

£31 MILLION The amount owed by YouTube in unclaimed music royalties for music uploaded by its users in the US between August 2012 and December 2015. The money will be paid out by YouTube following an agreement with the US National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA). 30% is the amount recommended to safely charge the original Samsung Note 7 battery. A new update aims to encourage the few owners who have not yet returned the faulty devices to hand them in. Samsung issued a global recall for the Galaxy Note 7 in September after batteries seemed to explode. 72% The growth in London’s 'gig economy' (transport and storage) since 2010, thanks to apps such as Deliveroo and Uber. The number employed had risen from about 38,000 in 2010 to about…

Your guide Nick Peers says… “Take a look under the hood of Windows to track down the cause of stubborn problems” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 ERROR FREQUENCY In some cases, errors and warnings can be ignored, but if they keep cropping up it’s a good idea to investigate them. FILTER VIEW You can examine specific parts of your system by browsing through the available list of logs, or create custom views. EVENT DETAILS Try to include as much detail as the log gives you in your searches: Event ID, source (or filenames) and any error codes. SEARCH ONLINE This handy link no longer works in Windows 10 – don’t worry, we’ll show you…

Your guide Matt Hanson says… “Easily switch your mouse and keyboard between devices without unplugging a thing!” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 OTHER OPTIONS For more options on how the app behaves, click on the ‘Other Options’ tab. This will show you advanced options, so it’s best to leave this until you’re used to the app. SECURITY KEY This is the key you use to allow trusted PCs to connect via Mouse Without Borders. Click ‘Show text’ to reveal the key, then enter it in during the setup procedure. COMPUTER ORDER The Computer Matrix area of the screen shows you the order of your connected PCs. Drag and drop these so they reflect the…

Your guide Matt Hanson says… “Don’t want an app to access the rest of your system? Run it in a sandbox, instead” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 WEB BROWSER Click the ‘Sandboxed Web Browser’ shortcut on your desktop to open your web browser in a sandbox. It will appear and behave just like your normal browser, but, when you hover over it, a yellow outline will appear. SANDBOX OPTIONS Click here to create a new sandbox, or view the folder where downloaded files appear. CONFIGURE SANDBOXIE Click here to access configuration options for Sandboxie and the sandboxes that it creates. SANDBOXED APPLICATIONS In the main Sandboxie window you can see the applications that you’re…

One of the most stomach-churning moments in any PC user’s life is when you switch on your computer to do some work or let off some steam, only to find Windows won’t boot. You may get lucky – Windows 10 is smarter than previous versions, and can resolve certain issues on its own, but in many cases, you’re left in an endless reboot loop. Assuming Windows even gets that far. If Windows can’t fix itself, what next? Do you have a recent backup of your data? What about Windows itself? Of course, it’s perfectly possible to reinstall Windows from scratch, but that’s the best part of a day lost to restoring your PC. And did we mention your data? The solution lies in creating a bootable recovery disc – one…

The sign-in screen in Windows 10 is known as the Lock screen, because your comptuer is effectively locked until you sign in with a correct password. You can actually change quite a few of the things that happen on the Lock screen once you access the correct settings, including the background image, the apps that can show their status, and the amount of time to wait before turning off your screen.…

Even the owners of the most expensive new PCs need to be aware that computer viruses are still out there and can wreak havoc on their systems. This issue we take four of the best antivirus programs for Windows and put them through their paces to find our favourite. They’re all free, so you have no excuse for not being protected! Also this issue, we look at the Amazon Echo Dot, which gives you all the power of the full Dot experience, but you need to bring your own speakers to the party. Enjoy, and I’ll see you next issue!…

Mesh networks are the biggest thing to happen to home networking since Wi-Fi was first introduced in the late 90s, and Google is getting into the game early. Google Wifi consists of a router and satellite modules to place around your home to eliminate networking black spots – near thick walls, for instance, or on each floor. Currently on sale in the US, Google Wifi should hit the UK in the next few months.…

1 What is Microsoft’s VR headset called? A. HoloLens B. VirtuaLens C. HoloGoggles 2 Which phone company did Microsoft buy in 2014? A. Motorola B. Nokia C. Ericsson 3 What year was Microsoft founded? A. 1981 B. 1983 C. 1975 4 What was Microsoft’s first product? A. Microsoft BASIC B. Microsoft DOS C. Microsoft Windows 5 Who  co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates? A. Steve Ballmer B. Paul Allen C. Satya Nadella 6 Which of these started off as part of Microsoft? A. Expedia B. Ticketmaster C. Google…

In the Explore section this issue we’ve got three apps that could change the way you use your computer forever. Firstly, there’s the free Mouse Without Borders app so you can use the same mouse and keyboard across multiple PCs, then there’s Cameyo, which enables you to upload your apps to the cloud and use them from there. Finally, we’ve got the brilliant Sandboxie, which enables you to try out new apps safe in the knowledge they won’t cause damage to the rest of your system.…

Your guide Cat Ellis says… “Give your music, podcasts and other sound recordings a coat of professional polish with Audacity” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 RECORD AND PLAY Use these to make and listen to recordings. Hover your mouse over each one to see its corresponding keyboard shortcut and any variations. QUICK CONTROLS Use these buttons to cut, copy and paste sections of audio. You can also mute a section (Silence), or cut away everything before and after it (Trim). EFFECTS Here you’ll find all of Audacity’s tools for refining recordings, plus creative options such as Auto Duck, which lets you speak over a music track by lowering its volume. SELECTION Click and drag…

Your guide Cat Ellis says… “Upload your favourite software to Cameyo and access it from any PC without installing it” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 APP LIBRARY Here you’ll find all the programs pre-installed. Move your mouse over an icon; if you see a play button, you can run it in your browser. ADD APP Got a favourite program that’s not in the library? Follow the instructions in the walkthrough below to package it, then click here. MY APPS All the programs you’ve packaged and uploaded to Cameyo. They will remain here for seven days. UPLOAD FROM YOUR PC Cameyo turns programs into portable apps that you can upload straight to the website. DESTINATION…

Your guide Nick Odantzis says… “Here are eight quick fixes for the sort of problems that can stop you getting stuff done on your PC. Let’s get started!” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 NICK’S BEST TIP An easy way to improve Windows 10 is to learn some shortcuts - this will instantly make you more productive. There are so many different settings available in Windows 10, but it’s hard to know where they all are. Quite often you know what you want to do, but you don’t know where to start looking to get it done. Over time, you might find certain things start to grate, such as prompts that frequently remind you of…

TIME TAKEN 10 minutes SIGN OUT QUICKLY Click your user picture to access the account menu previously found at the top of the Start menu. OTHER SHORTCUTS These icons give you access to File Explorer, Settings and the Power button – put user folders here too. HAMBURGER Click the hamburger-like icon to show or hide the titles of the buttons in the left-hand column. ALL-IN-ONE The new Start menu now lists All Apps on the main screen beneath the recently and frequently used lists. TILES Your previous tiles remain untouched – but look out for an increased number of suggested apps (or ads). RESIZE As before, adjust the number of tile columns by clicking and dragging on the right-hand edge of the menu to expand or contract. One of the…

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