Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i Windows Help & Advice

Spring is a fantastic time for new beginnings and fresh starts – and it’s the same when it comes to your PC. Now is the perfect time to clear away the cobwebs of neglect from your Windows install, take out the trash of unwanted apps, and tidy up the files on your hard drive, so you can enjoy better performance in the year ahead – and we’ll show how to do exactly that with our in-depth feature on page 11. Turn to page 42 and you’ll also discover how to create the perfect reinstall for Windows 7, 8.1 and 10; while our Explore section, starting on page 23, is packed with fantastic ideas for doing more with your PC – whether it’s having fun with the new Mixed Reality Viewer…

What is it, then? It’s a camera, as you can plainly see. But not just any camera. It’s an AI-powered camera. You attach it to your person and head on out, or just leave it in the corner of your living room, and Clips will automatically fill its 16GB of storage (or your Google Photos account via Wi-Fi) with snaps when it thinks something interesting is going on. That sounds quite sinister Doesn’t it just? The concept of an AI camera is certainly interesting – who knows what shots you’re going to get – but the concept of a constantly-watching lens is slightly more unsettling. Luckily it seems as if Google’s new cam isn’t quite the scary HAL 9000 ever-vigilant eye that it appears to be on the surface. How…

vcvrack.com Analogue synthesisers are responsible for some of the most iconic and strange music of the past 50 years, but they’re pretty hard to get started with, both from a complexity and cost perspective. VCV Rack changes at least the second part of that equation: it’s a free simulation of a whole rack of synthesiser components, which you’re encouraged to wire up and twiddle with exactly as you wish. VCV Rack’s community is perhaps its finest asset, as synth enthusiasts have put together a host of free modules emulating real-world hardware, all available through the app itself. What’s more, while there are plenty of specific Rack tutorials online, VCV’s emulation of proper components means you can follow just about any guide to analogue synthesisers to get started. Enjoy making beep…

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 Nate Drake says… “Manage all your logins from one place, using a single password, your fingerprint or your face” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 If you’re tired of managing multiple passwords, then the True Key password manager may be for you. This handy app is now available as an extension for Microsoft Edge, and you can use it to store personal details like passwords, then log back in with a single click. Your credentials and secret data are protected by a master password, which is required before showing any sensitive information. True Key is also compatible with Microsoft Hello (available on selected devices) meaning you can sign in using your face or…

At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 DIFFERENT VIEWS Switch between tabs in the Task Manager windows to show performance, start-up programs and more. WHAT’S GOING ON On the left you’ll find all the current active processes. Use the drop-down next to each one to find out more. SHUT THEM DOWN When you want to stop a process from eating up your PC’s performance, right-click its name and select ‘End task’. KEEP IT SIMPLE Click here to switch the Task Manager between the current detailed view to one that only shows active apps. YOUR PC Here you’ll see what effect each of the open processes is having on your PC, revealing how much is being utilised.…

Just starting your Windows journey? Confused by the changes Microsoft has made to the Fall Creators Update? Maybe you want to learn something new about Windows 10. Well, 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. On page 70 we’ll show you how to master the desktop, customise application icons and take control of notifications; and on page 72 we’ll explain how you can customise the Start menu from changing the default colours to managing your Live tiles.…

To some, Cortana – that chatty lady who really wants to help you search for things in Windows 10 – is a bit of an annoyance. You may even have switched her off entirely. But Cortana is more than just the modern day equivalent of Ask Jeeves: give her a chance, and she can do a lot more than just search. Cortana can help you fill your calendar, interact with web services and, if you’re feeling adventurous, she can connect to the devices around your home. CLEVER CONTROLS At press time, Cortana is compatible with Nest thermostats, Philips Hue smart light bulbs, and the Wink, Insteon and Smartthings smart device hubs. This means you can tweak the temperature of your home, dim the lights, or interact with numerous compatible devices…

Computer builders and hardcore gamers are up in arms. High-end graphics cards are suddenly in short supply, and those which are available are now selling at levels typically way above the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. It’s all thanks to the boom in cryptocurrency. Finding new currency, in the most simple terms, means digging up one of a limited selection of secret keys; graphics cards, and their GPU processors, are perfect for the number-crunching required to mine them. So electricity-hungry fanatics, seeking to capitalise on the digital gold rush, have snapped up the fastest cards on the market. Capitalism being what it is, this new scarcity has led to some cards almost doubling in price. GPU manufacturers, despite bumper sales, aren’t particularly happy about this trend. Nvidia has suggested that retailers…

In the ever-changing world of security, it’s not practical to employ a set-it-and-forget-it approach, particularly when choosing your primary form of protection against malware. What might have been considered the best tool five years ago may no longer be the case, so now is a good time to refresh your security and ensure you’re adequately protected. Audit your security tool Let’s start with your currently antimalware tool. Check its scores at respected independent testing labs – including SE Labs (https://selabs.uk/en/consumers), AV-Comparatives (www.av-comparatives.org) and AV-Test Institute (www.av-test.org/en/). Also check reputable websites for their reviews of the latest version of your software – including our sister site at techradar.com. If you’ve not switched for several years you may be surprised at what you find. If you do decide to switch to a…

Your guide Matt Hanson says… “Window 10’s Action Centre gives you quick access to important features. Here’s how it works” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 WINDOWS Some buttons on the Action Centre, such as VPN, will open a new window where you can change the settings. APP NOTIFICATIONS Many apps show notifications, and the most recent ones will be shown in the Action Centre, grouped by app. SEE MORE NOTIFICATIONS If you have a lot of missed notifications, click and scroll here to see an expanded collection of them. TABLET MODE If you use Windows 10 on a tablet or touchscreen device, you can place it in Tablet mode by tapping this icon. CLEAR…

Your guide Ian Evenden says… “With Paint.net’s plugins, you can change the colour of any part of a photo you like” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 EFFECTS MENU This is where you’ll find Paint.net’s special effect filters, from standard blurs to any plug-ins you’ve installed. COLOR RANGE PLUG-IN Nestled inside a folder marked Color, you can find the newly installed plug-in easily. DROP-DOWN From here you can choose broad ranges of colour, such as ‘blue’, as a starting point before refining your choice. COLOR RANGE WINDOW Opens when you select the plug-in. Lets you to choose which colour you want to work with. HISTORY PALETTE A multi-level undo. Keep the History palette in view…

Reinstalling Windows is like death, taxes and washing up – try as hard as you might, you can’t put it off forever. The reinstall process is traditionally associated with giving your PC a major clearout – restoring it to its halcyon days when it fairly flew through the tasks you put in front of it. But reinstalling Windows can also fix any non-hardware problems, remove corrupt files and misbehaving programs to give you back control of your PC. Not all reinstall processes are the same, however. In this feature, we’ll look at five different scenarios. There’s the repair install that fixes minor problems without affecting your programs, files or settings, as well as the more familiar destructive install that removes everything and gives you a clean slate. But we’ll also…

Thanks to the ubiquity of LCD displays, screen savers aren’t as necessary as they used to be – but they can still be fun. To set one up on your PC, type ‘screen saver’ into the Taskbar search box, then click ‘Change screen saver’. In the Screen Saver Settings window that appears, you’ll see various options, including a drop-down menu containing the built-in screen savers, plus an option to set how quickly one appears onscreen.…

With more of us shooting home movies than ever before, there’s never been a greater need for an easy-to-use video editor. But since the demise of Windows Movie Maker, your choices have often been limited to paid-for apps like Adobe Premiere Elements – and that’s where we come in. On page 88 we’ve rounded up four of the best video editors you can get today and, best of all, they’re completely free. Also on test are Dell’s stunning 8K monitor (page 76); Lenovo’s Explorer Mixed Reality headset (page 78) and much more.…

1 Lightworks www.lwks.com Lightworks is an incredible tool that’s published free with the noble aim of making professional quality video editing software available to everyone. Lightworks is far more than a simple application for combining video clips and applying filters; it’s been used to produce Hollywood movies including The King’s Speech and Road to Perdition. As you would expect for such a powerful video editor, you won’t be able to master it overnight, but that’s certainly not something you could hold against it. Lightworks is described as the professional video editor for everyone, and we reckon that’s a fair summary. Despite its power, it will run well on fairly modest hardware, and it handles video capture and advanced editing with aplomb. If you’ve tried other free video editors you’ll probably…

Amazon’s Echo range is expanding fast. There are, as before, three sizes of traditional speaker Echo – from the Dot to the Plus, all recently refreshed with new hardware – but these have now been joined by camera-and-screen equipped extensions to the range. There’s the larger £200 Echo Show, and this, the dinky chopped-sphere Echo Spot at £129. That camera can link to Amazon’s ‘skills’, apps that extend what the device can do, and you can make video calls too.…

1. What was the name of Microsoft’s CD-ROM encyclopaedia?A) EncartaB) Magna CartaC) Carta Blanche2. And what was the name of its medieval-themed trivia game?A) Mind MazeB) Brain BamboozleC) Think Quest3. Which online encyclopaedia was founded in 1999 by author Douglas Adams?A) e2f2B) h2g2C) f2p24. What expert-written encyclopaedia led to the launch of Wikipedia?A) MediapediaB) NupediaC) Centipedia5. Which American agency publishes the World Factbook?A) FBIB) NSAC) CIA6. Which of these is not real?A) Know Your MemeB) Urban DictionaryC) Encyclopaedia of Blue Screens…

In this month’s Explore section we’ll show you how to get started with Mixed Reality, Microsoft’s answer to VR, enabling you to create virtual 3D models and place them in real-world environments. The fun begins on page 36. We’ll also show you how to change the colours in your favourite photos (page 32); and explain how you can download videos from sites such as YouTube and Facebook (page 27). On page 30 you’ll also learn how to secure your passwords with True Key. And on page 39 you’ll discover how to make Windows even faster.…

At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 PASTE IT Just copy a video URL from your web browser and click this button to start setting up your download. SPEED SETTINGS If your downloads are clogging up your connection, you can select a maximum speed here to slow them down. DOWNLOADING Files with a green bar are currently downloading. The speed of this depends on where they’re coming from. CONVERTING The blue bar means your video file is converting from its original format into whichever other one you have chosen. STOP IT You can queue up a lot of videos to download. Pause them all with this button, then click it again to restart. ONE-CLICK With the…

Your guide Nate Drake says… “Choose the next step after VR – Mixed Reality. Create, mould and share your own 3D models” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 MENU Click to open saved 3D models, toggle rotation and for 3D printing. Supports physical printers and printing services. WEBCAM VIEW Click to display your 3D model over your webcam view. Click to reposition it. You can pan, orbit and zoom too. REMIX 3D Click to download a new model from the Remix 3D portal. You will need a Microsoft account to be able to use this. CONTROLS Use your keyboard, mouse or trackpad to orbit, pan and zoom your model. Double-click to reset the view to…

A full reinstall is a destructive process – everything on your C drive will be wiped clean as a result. Even if you perform a repair install, there’s still the danger that it won’t fix your problem and might even make things worse, preventing you from getting at your data. Therefore, it’s important to take steps to protect your personal files and maybe your preferences and system tweaks too. Step one is to look after your personal data: documents, photos, videos and so on. By default, these are stored inside your personal user folder on the same drive as Windows itself. So if you’ve not moved these folders on to another drive, it’s critical you back them up now. Windows has all the tools you need: Backup and Restore in…

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£399 | $449 www.beyerdynamic.com Beyerdynamic’s Aventho Wireless headphones are a high-end Bluetooth pair for discerning music fans who don’t mind spending what initially seems like a ridiculous amount on a pair this small. At £399 ($449) they are intimidatingly expensive. Given than their closest wired relatives, the Beyerdynamic T51i, cost around half the price, it’s a lot to pay for a wireless upgrade. Design Most headphones are made in China. Sennheiser Momentum 2.0? China. Bose QC35 II? China. The Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless are among a handful of big-brand models to be made elsewhere. Like the high-end Sennheiser HD700 and HD800, these are made in Germany. This isn’t a magic manufacturing bullet, but the Aventho Wireless headphones are well-made from a combination of metal and high quality plastic, with fairly light…