Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i Windows Help & Advice

Whether you’re thinking of buying a new PC or just want to make the most of the machine you already have, this issue of Windows Help & Advice has everything you need. In our lead feature starting on page 14 , we’ll show create your dream desktop PC for less than £400. We’ll explain how to choose the right components – from case to monitor, processor to graphics card – and take you through each step of the building process, so you know exactly what to do. Of course, once you’ve built your PC, you’ll need some decent apps to fill it with – and on page 69 we pick seven of the best that you can get completely free! Elsewhere, you’ll discover how stop Windows from installing automatic updates…

Phones have come a long way since the heyday of the near-indestructible and ubiquitous Nokia 3310. They’re a whole lot more complex, but there’s a big downside – smartphones drain battery like there’s no tomorrow. Enter Nokia’s revitalised 3310, a brand new handset with a cut-down feature set, a bargain €49 (around £42) asking price, and a battery that’ll last a whole month of standby time. For many people, this could be just the phone they’re looking for.…

1 In  which year did Intel release its first processor, the 4004? A 1961 B 1971 C 1981 2 Which of the below was the Intel 4004 NOT used for? A Calculators B Pinball machines C Toasters 3 Which element is most commonly used in CPUs? A Silicon B Americium C Livermorium 4 What does the ‘C’ in CPU stand for? A Confusing B Central C Computational 5 Which of these is a real variety of CPU? A Intel Core i6 B Intel Core i7 C Intel Core i8 6 What does ‘AMD’ stand for? A Advanced Micro Devices B Amplified Metal Division C It’s not an acronym…

Your guide Rob Mead-Green says… “See what your friends and family are up to with this social photo sharing 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 WHO YOU FOLLOW The circles at the top are the users you are following. Click one to see the relevant posts. Scroll left or right to see others. MAIN WINDOW This is where the photos and videos of anyone you have followed will appear. Scroll up or down to reveal more. DISCOVER Click here to reveal a random collection of images from other users. Use the search box at the top to find specific images. FOLLOWERS Click here to view or change who you’re following; and…

Your guide Nate Drake says… Discover how to use the Ghostery browser extension and protect your privacy when surfing online At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 BLOCK ALL This stops cookies from tracking you and is enabled by default. Do this and Ghostery will update its tracker database. PURPLE BOX Open Ghostery’s box at any time by clicking on the '…’ button in Microsoft Edge and then on Ghostery App. RESTRICT SITE Blocks all trackers and is enabled by default. Only use this if you’ve previously trusted the site or paused blocking. PAUSE GHOSTERY Click to temporarily disable blocking of tracking cookies across all websites. Use only if pages are loading incorrectly. MAP THESE TRACKERS…

Your guide Nick Peers says… “Bring your music, movies, live TV and other media under one roof with the exceptional Kodi player” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 POWER Lets you go back to the desktop. It can also shutdown, restart or suspend your entire PC, so use with caution. NAVIGATION Run your mouse over these options to switch the view between different sections of your media library. SETTINGS Click here to browse Kodi’s settings tools – you can use use these to customise its look and feel as well as behaviour. DISC Kodi enables you to play DVD videos on your PC, as well as music CDs – just pop the disc in, and…

Your guide Tim Hardwick says… “Control what your kids can and can’t see and do in Windows 10 with child accounts” 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 Websites can only be blocked in Edge . Block other browsers in the Apps & games’ screen on your child’s account page . The internet is an amazing information resource that brings convenience to our everyday lives. But with such freedom come drawbacks, particularly when it comes to child safety. Few would deny their children access to the web, but how do you ensure they are protected from unsuitable content? Happily, Windows 10 offers a solution in the form of child user accounts. If you’re…

“Click Edit, select your username again and tick the Full Control box” Do you have a PC problem? Get in touch… Email full details of your problem to the support team and we’ll do our best to help windowsmagazine@futurenet.com Applications CAN’T CONNECT BLOG TO OPEN LIVE WRITER Q I blogging ’ve been looking tool and for was a decent initially thrilled to read your tutorial on Open Live Writer. The problem is, I can’t connect it to my WordPress blog – even though I’ve entered the correct user credentials it refuses to grant me access. Do you have any ideas on what’s going on? John Purdey Nick P’s solution It sounds like you have two-step verification enabled on your blog – this is a great security measure to take, but…

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,…

What’s this then? The Switch is Nintendo’s hot new games console, the follow-up to the not-entirely-successful Wii U. It’s caused quite a stir – as new Nintendo tech tends to do – thanks to an exciting lineup of games and what looks like a big power leap over the previous generation. What’s so exciting about it? It wouldn’t be a Nintendo device without a serious gimmick, and the Switch has plenty of innovations going for it. Primary amongst these its it flexibility – the whole console is essentially contained within the 6.2-inch screen portion, which can slide into and out of a dock for play on and off of your home TV. So it’s a portable? It is – the Switch is based on some of the most powerful tablet…

Signing up to access something of unknown reputability online, but don’t want to risk the sanctity of your email inbox? That’s where Guerilla Mail comes in. Head on over to the site and you’ll immediately be given a unique ‘burner’ email address, ready to send and receive messages between you and your potentially spurious quarry. Just copy and paste the address you’re given, or type your custom address in the box at the top of the interface. Be careful, if you’re using Guerilla Mail, not to sign up for untrusted sites with your personal details. You may notice, when changing to a custom address, that you can poke around with spam mail previously sent to that address, which is a security risk – try the likes of ‘test’, ‘aaa’ and…

“Your best bet for squeezing the maximum possible value from your build is to go for a standard ATX case” One of the fun bits of building your own PC is in setting yourself a budget and then getting to choose exactly which components will make up your new desktop. It’s possible to build a PC for around £350 (including a copy of Windows), but if you can stretch to £600 you’ll find you’re able to build a desktop that will hold its own for years to come. In this first section, we’ll look at putting together the shell that your PC will reside in, namely its case, and the power supply that will drive it. Choose the right case You might think the case should be the last thing…

In this month’s Explore section we’re going to show you how to get more out of any PC – whether it’s brand new or you’ve owned it for a while. On page 32 we’ll tempt you Mozilla Thunderbird, an excellent and extensible alternative to Windows Mail, while on page 46 we’ll show you how to take control of your PC and stop Windows 10 from updating automatically. On page 42 we’ll also show you how to make your PC more secure by making changes to its settings; and on page 52 we’ll also explain how you can avoid unwanted adverts.…

Your guide Nate Drake says… Do more with your mail messages using Thunderbird, a free email client with bundled calendar At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 GET MESSAGES Thunderbird checks for new messages every 10 minutes by default. Click here to have it manually download them. WRITE Click to compose a new message. You can also select the arrow next to it to create a new To Do or calendar event. ADDRESS BOOK Lists your contacts. Thunderbird will load these in the To field automatically when you create a new message. TAG Click here to mark your messages as ‘Important’, ‘To Do’ etc. To create or customise tags click ‘Manage Tags’. FILTER BAR This is…

Your guide Matt Hanson says… “Make sure your privacy is protected by changing these important settings” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 LOCATION Windows uses your location for certain apps and websites, but if you don’t like the thought of that, click to turn it off. PRIVACY SETTINGS Open this by typing in ‘privacy’ in the Start menu. Use it to change settings and keep your personal information private. CONTACTS If you store friends and family details as contacts, click here to limit what apps can access their information. MORE OPTIONS Click here to open a web page where you can tweak privacy settings related to your Microsoft account. DIAGNOSTICS By default, Microsoft logs how…

Your guide Ian Evenden says… “You don’t have to be distracted by intrusive advertising on the web, but remember many site owners depend on adverts for their livelihoods” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 IAN’S BEST TIP Some sites now force you to allow adverts before showing their contents. Such sites can be ‘whitelisted’ to show ads. You’re reading salacious celebrity gossip on a website you’ve never visited before when it happens. Something covers the screen, plays a tune, and starts a video about a product you have no interest in buying. Adverts like this can be annoying, interrupting your enjoyment of paparazzi pictures, cat videos or scholarly articles. Luckily, they can be blocked using…

Just starting your Windows journey? Confused by the changes Microsoft has made to the Anniversary update? Or maybe you just 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. In this month’s Basics section, we’ll show you how to make the most of the Anniversary Update changes in Windows 10 and pick the best anti-virus software to help you stay safe, both online and off. www.facebook.com/windowsmag…

TIME TAKEN 10 minutes Avast Free Antivirus Avast Free Antivirus ( www.avast.com ) is one of the most popular security tools around. The program is simple to install and its straightforward interface makes it a pleasure to use. A first scan will identify potential threats on your PC, and it’ll have a minimal impact on your system’s performance. Avast Free has some useful extras, too. A Software Updater alerts you to program updates you’ve missed, and its Browser Cleanup tool provides a simple way to remove add-ons. Comodo Internet Security Premium If you’re looking for combined anti-virus and firewall protection, then Comodo Internet Security ( www.comodo.com ) has your back covered. It includes the expected protections against viruses and spyware, of course, but also comes with…

Off-licenses, corner shops, and security-minded folks have all been using simple, multi-camera DIY home monitoring systems for years. In the world of smart home control, these wired systems – with questionable video quality, recorded direct to DVR – now seem decidedly old school. If you use one of those, it’s time to welcome in the new generation… Following the success of indoor Wi-Fi cameras such as Netatmo Welcome, Nest Cam and Canary, the smart camera is venturing outside for some all-weather home control. But when it comes to keeping the baddies at bay, can you really rely on a wireless motion detector and app? We installed the latest smart security cameras to find out. 1 Nest Cam Outdoor £159, nest.com Nest’s IP65-rated all-weather camera delivers superb wide-angle 1080p…

Try Discord and you’ll find some of the clearest voice chat in the world The world is more connected than it’s ever been. We carry our phones everywhere we go, announce our every move on social media, and stay in touch with more people more regularly. But we’ve barely even started; there are emerging technologies and services that will make communicating both more universal and easier than before. We have the gaming community, and corporate sponsors, to thank for Discord (www.discord.com), which offers mobile and PC-based voice and text chat. It’s based around a concept of private rooms – you’ll only get access to a conversation when you’re given a direct link to it – but once you’re in, and there’s no software to download, you’ll find some of the…

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. 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. 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. Discover new…

Your guide Cat Ellis says… PDFs are great for sharing information, but can be tricky to edit. We’re going to show you how to take control by converting them into Word files 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 If the file conversion fails, use Rich Text Format (RTF ) instead . You’ll still be able to open the document in Word . Portable Data Files or PDFs were created as a way to share information so it always looks the same. Unlike other formats, which can end up looking different depending on which program or device you use to open them, PDFs will always have the same text and images, formatted…

Your guide Nick Odantzis says… “Take back control of your PC! In this tutorial we’ll show you how you can stop Windows 10 from automatically downloading updates and forcing you to restart…” 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 an update is available and you need to restart your PC, you can do so manually by clicking Restart now. Microsoft regularly delivers updates to your Windows PC, improving on aspects of your machine like security, reliability and overall performance. This is, of course, a good thing and shouldn’t be interfered with, but unfortunately the way in which Microsoft does this isn’t particularly appealing. Every time an update is available, you don’t have…

Your guide Tim Hardwick says… “Discover a world of great new apps that have the Microsoft stamp of approval” At a glance Skill level… Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts Suitable for… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 CATEGORIES The Windows Store is organised into five main categories that you can switch between to discover apps and media. REFINE Exploring the media categories is made easier thanks to chart and genre filters that refine your search. BROWSE Apps and media are listed here in the main browsing window. Click on an item for a full description. PROFILE This button takes you to your Store Profile, where you can adjust settings and add to your payment options. DOWNLOADS This symbol tells you how many apps or media items you’ve…

If you have friends and family overseas, using your PC to stay in touch with them by email, social media or Skype is easy – but how can you be sure that you’re contacting them at the right time? After all, no-one wants a Skype call when they’re trying to catch some zeds. You can quickly see what the time is anywhere on the planet by clicking on Alarms & Clocks from the Start Menu, then heading to the World Clock tab.…

Whether you want to express yourself with a blog, show off your photos or create a portal for your business, building your own website is a very satisfying thing to do. In this issue we’re going to look at four different web building apps that can help you achieve that goal – and see which one is the easiest and most powerful to use. We also take a look at HP’s big and beautiful Spectre x360 15 4-in-1 laptop; listen into the BeatsX wireless earphones; and see if a tiny short-throw projector from LG can satisfy your home cinema cravings.…

£129.95 | $149.95 www.beatsbydre.com The BeatsX by Beats by Dre is a bold new product for what has become a traditional headphone maker. Instead of sticking to bass-heavy earbuds or expensive over-ears, the company has crafted a new pair of musically inclined in-ears. That said, the BeatsX borrows much from its predecessors – including but not limited to the flat, no-tangle cable – while carving out its own niche as one of the first evenly-balanced pair of headphones from the low-end loving company. But the BeatsX has two tricks up its sleeve that few headsets from Beats by Dre have had before: the first is Fast Fuel, a feature that enables the earbuds to last up to two hours off a single five-minute charge; and the second is Apple’s W1…