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YOU CAN TRUST computer yr ye Ultimate Guide i 210 more tech problems solved! Phones & ff Hardware Tablets Internet A) ee Computeractive Ultimate Guide WHY IS MY i} COMPUTER SO SLOW? From the Editor computers, smartphones, tablets and other devices were all invented to help make our live easier. So i's somewhat ironic that they can often end up being the source of so much i annoyance and anxiety. From relatively minor frustrations, ) like not being able to print webpages propery for example, to such bigger worries, such as data loss or a virus infection, the technology we rely on can quickly become major part the problem, rather than the solution. shouldn't be that way. Our tech should “ust work’, as Apple sso fond of saying. Unfortunately the reality is usvally far less straightforward and i's og easy to fel defeated by even the most mundane tasks, such as trying to send an emmal that keeps bouncing back or transferring files toan external drive that refuses to connect. ‘Thankfully, in many cases, our technological trials and tribulations can be ‘The Computeractive Ultimate Guide: socal ste wth use nous slcksorouhsereen aps pou ht eed Whrle My CompsterSo Sarton A its where is ae comes er he oa ofthe illo we wl pode answers contact hunted of questions yu nay nd youl ating when ous wing Comte! srainecoah | tahnology Webs shoving Jou ho fo curecomen Windows Woes \whichever version you happen to use, from XP and Vista right up to Windows 7, Sand even 81. Youll also find chapters dedicated to specific types of computer problems, sich as hardware aul or programs that don't do ‘what you want them to. Having trouble connecting to the web? Something wrong with your email Well also be offering solutions to these types of problems while Security concerns are tackled in thei own section too, Usersof Apple oF udroid devices, meamwhil, will ind everything they need in our phones and tablets chapter. Fow things are more infuriating than a computer or device that wont do as itstold. So, i you've ever had 2 question about any ofthe tech you use, then this MapRook will help you find the answers you need. Jonathan Parkyn Editor sewu.computeractive.couk | 3 Computeractive Ultimate Guide Why Is My Computer So Slow? EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT Editor: Jonathan Pasiyn || MagBook Publisher: Dhariesh Mistry ‘Art Editor: Nicola Kerr Operations Director: Robin Ryan Consulting Editor: Danicl Booth: | MD of Advertising: Julian Lloyd-Evans Digital Production Manager: Nicky Baker Newstrade Director Davi Barcor ‘MD of Enterprise: Martin Belson Chief Operating Ofcer: ret Reynolds ‘Group Finance Director Ian Lesaet ‘Chief Executive: James Tye | Shama es Denis accox M ‘egos nasser Deming Luu Ltd, 20 Cleveland! Street, London WIT 4JD. Company regs: ‘ern Anita Boehner 0 ar ny reterexoduedmonico ar oto eee te aes ‘The Computeractive Ultimate Guide: ih s MyPCSti Se Slew? Is8NL 78105 2162 LICENSING AND SYNDICATION Matenainmay ot be To lcense this rest please contac Carolla Serantont n+ (0) 207907 6580 or enatcata sevantonitdaniscouk. Tosyndieate content rem hs prec pleasecontct A Dos Ha (07 +440) 207807 6132.0" eva an. cost ania coe, 4 | wnowcomputeractivecoule ‘ie every care as san ding the produc ones Magn the pulsars ‘amet be hed responsible fr te accuracy ofthe nfrmatinor ay esaquerce ‘rising omit Dens oblong tae ne responsi ete empanie eves ingot sagaook “opaper use win ths Magoo produced ram sustain fire ranutsetuvesty mith avaé eran of ety. Proved Feestar Seas Ashampoo® Anti-Virus ‘Combines two powerful scan engines to achieve the best protection Detects more than 10,000,000 threats Much faster and lighter than current antivirus programs Neutraizes zero-day threats through smart Behavior Blocker Does not slow down your PC Includes a Game mode so you can play (or surf) without interruptions 0000000 Is easy-to-use, especially for novice users © Delivers real-time protection and monitoring © comes with a money back guarentee - buy with confidence More Information eel ashampoo.com/av | jie: a _ashampoo* Computeractive Ultimate Guide Contents Ps. Uncover Windows’ hidden features and make it work faster SECTION 2: PHONES & TABLETS. P32 Fix problems with your iPad, iPhone or Android device so they stop misbehaving SECTION 3: H, WARE P50 Cure hardware headaches so your kit works perfectly all the time 6 | worw.computeractive.comie SEC IN OFTWARE pes Discover programs’ hidden tools and make them run smoother Phones & tablets SECTION 5: BROWSERS & THE WEB paz. Learn how to get more from browsers and websites SECTION 6: EMAIL Essential tips for all the major webmail services 50 Hardware SECTION 7: SECURITY pus. Make sure you stay safe whatever device you use Yo aye tacd we've TECH QUESTIONS You'll notics AND ANSWERS righiente www couk | 7 TECH QUESTIONS i AND ANSWERS Chapter 1 Windows When Windows goes wrong you soon know about. it. Things that normally work quickly on your PC start spluttering toa halt. Folders disappear. default settings change, software crashes and hardware fails. And if Windows malfunctions then your PC is fairly useless. That's why we're starting this MagBook by fixing your most common 10. 13 What's the safest way to. Where has my install Windows 8.1? Documents folder gone? problems with Microsoft's operating system, covering Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 (and even 8.1). Once you've read our answers and you've discovered how to stop Windows misbehaving. you'll feel a lot happier when you turn on your computer every day. You might even grow to love +the OS again. 16 Willmy olddriveworkwith Windows 8? How do | securely erase data from my old PC? 1. ake Windows |e trnsciant ny ard sseumatgurprs Set separ 28 25 www.computeractive.couk | 9 ere Circa tly Ultimate Guide WHAT'S THE SAFEST WAY TO INSTALL WINDOWS 8.1? Ihave a Windows 7 PC that I've held off upgrading to Windows 8 because ofall the dreadful ‘things I've read about it. But I've been hearing rosier things about Windows B.1andI'm tempted to upgrade now. Microsoft is giving Windows 8.1 away as 2 free download. Other than perhaps my not liking Windows 8.1 (I'm prepared to take that risk for a freebie), are there any downsides to taking advantage ofthis free upgrade? Also, ‘what's the safest way to install it? Should I back up my PC first? A friend has told me that | should not install it ‘over Windows 7. We be very clear fromthe of IM Virose snot svg onay thetillversonof Wines toc tree Unilveseny Mcrosot hes been oterng’attee don Ges ct Windows 8.1 Preview — a beta (test) ‘ersonet the operating system sats intended er peop etary aut Ard. 25 of Welcome to VMware Player © Saas pan Viet Machine October 17 the finished version of Windows 8..has been made avaiable as afree update to existing users of ‘Windows 8 PCs. However, users of Windows 7 and earier wil need to pay to Upgrade to the full product. Users of earlier versions of Windows can try out Windows & for alimited ‘time but you should not use the trial version to upgrade your main PC. If you're stil keen to try out Windows 2, you can do so safely in what's caleda virtual PC - a computer tatex'sts entirely in software and is dispiayedina normal window like any other appication. In other words, by setting up ‘virtual PC you can try out Winciows 8.1 in aprogram window on your Windows 7 PC. There are numerous virtualisation programs but one that works well with ‘Wincows 8.1is the free VMware Prayer (wuw.snipca.com/o384).Ciick the bus Download button a onaside the VMware Player for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit” heeding, unrng operating systems avitulenvonmentisa grat way totest hm ou tout arming you PC 10 | wwwcomputeractive.co.uk a Now download a 90-day trial version ‘of Windows 8.1 disc-image (1S0) fie ‘trom wwwssnipea.com/40361— click the "/-bt (x64) download |nk f you have a (64-bit PC, or the 32-bit (x86) linkit you're not sure then folow the on- screen instructions to compiete the download. The ISO fies are several sigabytes in size, so expect to wait a fair while for the transfer to dounload, Launch VMWare Piayer. click’ Create ‘aNex Virtual Machine folianied by the Installer disc image fie ('so) radio button and ¢ick Browse, Now navigate tothe ISO fle you downloaded. click to salectitand cick Open. Click Noxt and then work through the wizard to set up the new virlual PC, VMware Player wil detect Windows 8 12s the operating, system and assign it 1GB of memory. so essentially al you have to do here click Next several times before clicking Finis, The eniy aspect you mah wish to ‘modify isthe dofault virtualhard dis, hich fs sel at B0GB — you can reduce this considerably to around 2068, say) it hard-disk space is tight. Finally. click to highlgght the virtual machina entry inthe VMware Player window and cick the Pay virtual ‘machine’ button to'switch on’ your Windows 81 PC. You'll now need to work through the Windows 8.1 setup process. ‘You won't harm your computer in any way by using avirtual PC. so exzeriment with Windows 8.1 fe your heart's content. WHAT'S CAUSING AN AUDIO PROBLEM ON MY WINDOWS COMPUTER? panel jt may be secured with Serews, or might ust need to be pushed cut) and then take a look. if the croutboards can be easily ‘accessed and removed (as nour picture below), then look atthe mic ‘sockets solder connections and clean and remake them. i soldering scunds too much for you and youre not prepared Someone todo the job, then 2 replacement front panel canbe B My Windows 7 PC seems tohave picked up an audio problem. When I plug the microphone into the front socket, the“You just plugged a device into ‘the audio jack notification pops up. However, soon enough the ‘You Just unplugged a device into the ‘audio jack notification will appear, These two alternate regulary When talking in Skype, pick-up seem to correspond with these notifications, so the people to picked up for around $2: whom I'm talking hear me only ‘www snipeascom/y271. or 3 intermittently. Ihave tried other —_exarnpie) The connections from telat imp ofa ose ad comets ye nd ih soloing kon TECH QUESTIONS EA ewe aie) ais ere es WHAT'S CAUSING THESE UNWANTED ADVERTS? {nave a new desktop PC with Windows & ‘When using the internet, there are aways three adverts displayed with the message ‘ads not by this site’ alongside. Also, some words ‘on some websites are underlined and coloured blue. Passing the mouse pointer over these words displays various adverts. These are apparently delivered by something called Coupon Compan: ion. | have ticked the pane! to stop pop-ups, but this has no effect other than stopping pop-ups that I require, which | then have to allow. However, ‘on my oid laptop computer, which Ihave upgraded to Windows 8 (rom Windows 7), don't sutfer ‘these probiemts. Can you help? ‘John Williams Dawe We Windoas ConrtPanel remove umes programs Bot ‘of these issues are caused by t (usualy unwanted) browser add-on upon Companian. Strictly speaking this isn'ta malicious add-on ~itdeesn't 2 harm your PC or data in any way ~ but tis adware. It ex'sts to show adverts, basically are that you ace dentally install time.as some other (usually war mn, though we suppose Its possib computer manufacturer nstaledit as part of a ‘edt ution deal tunately it's easy to remove. In Windows 8, ‘rom the Start screen. type ‘control pane! then click Contre ‘launch it, Now cick the Jninstal a prograr ink under the Progran reading, find the Cougon Companion entry in the tof installed programs. cick to high ight ta than click the Uninstal/Change button at the top Clviestocanmancthtstbo'=Cougon Companion willbe remov www.computeractive.co.k | 11 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide DO | NEED TO UNINSTALL MY START MENU TOOL IN WINDOWS 8.1? ‘Some time ago | downloaded 2 program that enabled me to bring the old-style Windows Desktop and Start menu back to Windows 8. What effect will this have when Microsoft releases the update {81) that will already include this ‘option? What else is nev in Windows 8.1? Will ave to somehow remove the third-party program that lam currently using or willthe update override it? The final version of Windows 8.1 launchedijust as we went to press and, as we mentionedion page 10, Microsoft released a'preview’ ‘yersion for keen users to dowiloactand test. There are a number of changes included inthis update, which is very much Ike a Service Pack for Winciows & ‘As you seem to kniow already, one of the new features isthe reintroduction of a Start button ~ although it's worth nating that there is stl no Startrmenus “ho Stat brs hack Windows. utitoes inet heise comparable to the one foundin earlier versions of Windows. It's also possible to boot straghtto the Windows Desktop rather than having to view the Start screen first Itsoundsas though you have installed (one ofthe programs, which emerged after the release of Windows 8, designed HOW DO | OPEN WINMAIL.DAT FILES? Iwas sent an email file supposedly containing a photo. ‘The attachment arrivad as 2 file named winmal dat! The sender said he \was nat aware that the file was anything other thana JPEG. When I try to open this winmaiL.dat file, Windows tells me don't have the necessary software installed. I tried changing the file Winmaildat.com ‘Tis one ol often screeds in saan eta om wnat les 12 | wwwcomputeractive.couk, extension suffix from dat to jpg but it didn’t work. | use Outiook 2007. Do you know any reliable software to open this file? 1am no longer able to request the sender tries something else ‘This 's an age-old but stil lepressingy common probiern that's caused by 2 combination of the sender using a particular ‘combinal on of Microsoft Outlook, Micrasott Exchange asthe sending/recoiving server and precaring emails inthe RTF format (perhaps Copying and pasting photos stragntint the body ofthe email for example), Essentially, Microsoft Exchange takes the RTF formatting information andencades it using a proprietary Microsoft protocol called Transport Neutral Encapsulation ‘toreplicate the Start button and menuremoved by Microsot. nail likelihood you'll be able to continue using your thia-party program when Windows 811s oficialy released You don't say wich one you're using but most toalscf this type = including the popular, free Ciassic Shell www. Classieshellnet)~ are compative with 8.1, though in some cases it may be necessary fo reinstall ar re-configure them post-upgrade. iteratively, it you ‘decide you don't want to make the Upgrade to Windows 8.1 worm computeractive.conk |13 ere Circa tly Ultimate Guide WHY CAN'T | DISABLE MY WINDOWS LOCK SCREEN? Inarecent issue of Computeractive magazine, read a very interesting ‘workshop about using the Local Group Policy Editor tool to disable the Windows 8 lock screen. tt sounded bit too technical for me so let sleeping dogs lie and put up with the inconvenience. However, recently | decided that Ihave had enough and hada go. being very careful to follow ‘the instructions to the letter Untortunately.it seems my version of ‘Windows 8 does not have Local Group Policy Editor that willrun on my laptop. | searched for gpedit.msc - the filename ‘mentioned in the workshop — and | ‘foundit in four locations on my ‘computer, but none would launch. My ‘version of Windows 8s not the Pro edition Is there anything I can do? Local Group Policy Editors supplied oniy with Professional (or better) editions of Windows. However. as youmenaged to fing the program file on your laptop, ourguess is that thas been uparaded froma version of Windows that Included the tool. Regordiess. there iso ‘nay to launch Local Group Palcy Editor ‘on anor-Protessional (or better) edition of Windows it simply will not work, 35, youhave discovered. So, fyeu want to follow the method published in our sister magazine then you will need to upgrade your version of Windows 8 However. there is stl a wayto achieve vat you want without help from Local Group Policy Editar, Be warned, though, Deablingthelockscren tht they fhe Loa Grup Ply eros tweaking he Rgiry thetit invelves manually eating the Windows Registry. As such, itis both ‘mare complicated and riskier ~ so before beginning we'd adv'se strongly ‘that you back up your entire PC. Ifyou wish to proceed. you can also make @ bbachup of your Registry by typing system restore at ihe Start screen, then > Seat he Rainer nazar ne) but worm computeractive cok [15 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide WILL MY OLD DRIVE WORK WITH WINDOWS 8? ol Previously | used a Sony laptop that ran Windows Vista, backing up all my data onto a Maxtor OneTouch 4 ‘external hard disk drive. lrecently purehased a Samsung with Windows 8. also have third- generation iPad. My problem is that lam unable toind software to download tomy new computer, Maxtor products are now seen as legacy kit by Seagate. so information is somewhat limited Can you offer a solution or do! have to bite the bullet and buy a new external hard drive? Or Perhaps | should use cloud software such as Dropbox? From whatwe can aiscem ‘rom Seagate, the drive itselt wil wark with Windows &, but the OneTouch software isnot eompatibie, The ‘answer, then, isto connect the drive ‘and then use same other backup software, such as the Fle History tool thats buit in to Windows 8. ‘This keeps every version of backed-up files, so you can revert to any earlier version. To activate it launch Control Fe yl © tue Panel from the Start screen start typing control panel and then cick Control Pane!) Then, under the System and Security heading. cick ‘Save backup copies of your files with File story” Assuming your Maxtor drive's connected, it should be shown. the wrong crive is ‘shown, click Select crive, choose the correct one then cick OK. Now ‘cick Turn on. File History starts ‘work right away, backing up al files ‘stored in the Windows Libraries. To ‘exclude particular folders, cick Exclude folders, then click Add to ‘tweak how often backups are make, click Advanced settings. Torestore file later. use File Explorer to navigate tothe relevant file. or folder then cick the History button in the Home tab. Use the: arrowat the battorn athe window toskip backwards end forwards through time. To restore an item, ‘solct it then click the round button at the bottom, Tum onthe Fl sory ol inno to mks backups to your extra de 16 | wwwcomputeractive.couk HOW DO! PRINT WINDOWS 8 CONTACTS? | want to print a telephone directory from the Windows 8 People app. How do! do this? Not easily, unfortunately Printing froma ‘windows 8 app usually involves opening the Charms bar (held down the Windows key and tap C) before cicking or tapping Devices and then selecting the printer. However, this doesn’t workin the Peele app ~ printing simpiyisnitan option right now. A~ a a~ A= A~ a A- a As J “Thue erent no oti top contacs am he Wigan 9 Microsoft may acidress this in the future with an update. in the meantime, there isa workaround, Vis http /peopletive.com.and log in using your Microsoft account detais. Click the Manage link at the top and then choose Expart from the dropdown. ‘menu. Thougi nothing obvious will hapgen, your browser will downlead a fle andeave tte the default dowload folder. you're using Internet Explorer 10 thsshould be Users\ [youruseramel\Dewnicads, Tonavigate here, launch Windows Explorer by holding down the ‘Windows koy and tap E. Lock fer ile called WLMContacts csv this is the file ust downloaded which contains al the contacts from your Microsoft socount (and thus ‘from the People app). I's CSV fie, so you'll need tose a spreadshaat program to openit Ifyou don'thave Microsoft Excel, the free OpenOffice Cale program will do the job - dawnload the suite ‘rom wwreopenoffice.ore. With your contacts row ‘9pen inan app ether than People, youcan print them, fC CAN | DELETE FILES INTHE ASSEMBLY WHERE IS WORDART? In the happy days when | used Windows XP with Word 2003 (which, though old, served my purposes very well), the program included a nice little feature called Wordart. | would use this to create and print documents with decorative znd colourful styles. now use Windows 7 with Word Starter 2010 and this feature seems to be completely absent. I know Microsoft does some strange things, but | find it hard to believe that the company ‘woulel do away with such a litle gem as ‘Wordart. [sit hidden away somewhere and is. itpossible to access it? A Microstt has not done ay vith PN Siccskn’rathertheversen ot ice thatyouare vshg= the 2010 Starter econ hos nein y had mary ot tealsres dsabeder imted aswel, tiludes (cut coum) versonsanly of Weré and Ec onerPom Ones ard Out ook arent to be toune, Thais because the Starter ection of bMrosot Otice 2030 wes none en 202 taster fthe ll Ofice sue, uh the dea tein tht users wanting acess fo cetan features ~ suchas Wordart~ woudl tempted te uperace othe a esiten you vw ntoupiragetothe Users on ers ‘okthe Purchase tn onthe Home tab anid fallen the prompts IneGeraly we tak of thisinthe past tense because Ofce 2010 Strteredten s omore ierosethledt of at years wl twas en evercense to PC manutactres for them tonsa one Ps, 30% wean? ossbleto uy the Starter ection nthe Sheps. were the company eortins to tmanain fics 2010 Starter wth mainsteam Suppert schedules to carry nut Detober 2015 ana yur sotvere continue werk Btershecte TECH QUESTIONS ENE WINDOWS FOLDER? I've found CAWindows\assembly has ‘around 300MB of what seem to be downloaded Microsoft NET installation files, fs there zany way that these files be safely stored elsewhere? No,basialy Fes FN ooicd sins toxcr areindeespartet Microsott's NET rameeark andwhile there's nothing to stop you moving them e'senhere or even deeting them altogather,doing socould ‘cause problems for any programs thal rely on the missing fs. Liry to keep Windows XP ‘small enough to be easily handled in my old computer. “Take grat carewhentreengupharaisk space WHY IS ANGRY BIRDS REFUSING TO. LAUNCH IN WINDOWS 7? oO Ihave a Windows 7 desktop PC Recentiy my | | J Angry Birds game refused ‘te launch. The opening screen appeared but then shut off, displaying an odd error message about a ‘call stack’ being unavailable. Ater restarting the PC. the same thing happened. | Uninstalled and reinstalled Angry Birds but again, an error message. Has something become corrupted” No other programs seem affected. Wire notsure what causes YM scrote tut tsserss tore ated comctes user data, which isn't deeted ty tninstallng Angry Birds, Moreover, when you rainstal the program, the corrupted user data remains in place = sothe problem recurs, even wth a fresh’ instal. To fix this, you need to uninstall Angry Birds, mania y delete the Complete rove a ate of Angry Sets efor remstaing elder that contin the corrugtd Steanattenrondaltoepare Tocmete isdn lout nde Bxorr oy hed oom the Waste Srctonsng) ennavpatee cause (Uta Ape duta ac Rattclecte Rove ler chocse Davie aieenestocosi Now eto ond lund easry Sieh shea bevel 2 swww.computeractive.couk | 17 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide WHAT ARE THUMBS FILES? ‘Whilst browsing through some folders on my hard disk. recently came across a long list of files called ‘thumbs! Can you tell me what they are fers sate fo delete Tubs les, oF thus do JW sseticm ror name oe InXP launch Windows Explorer (hold down the Windows key and tap E) then open the Tools menu ‘and choose Folder Options. Now select the View tab, Click to tick the"Be nt cache thumbnails tick box and cick OK. ‘what Windows uses to store Thereare ways to ‘small thumbnail version of images achieve the same effect but stored in folders. When a folders viewed the precise method in Thumbnail view in Windows XP (or Large icons view in later versions), the ‘operating system crestes a thumbs db depends on the version of, Windows (Vista/?) and particular edition (Basic/ fie in which stores eached versions of Tumble sey ard very eas ignore Hornie/Home Premium? any imagesin the foider This saves time Professional/Enterprise, later as Windows canextract thecached or Lergelcons view. Fortunately,these and involve either a Registry hack or images from thethumbs.dé fle.ratner fies are harmlessand tekeup veryiittle making tweaks using the Group Policy than againhaving toread and prepare room. sothey're nething te worry about. _Elitor However, Microsoft doesn't ‘thuinbnaiis of the images Iithey bother yousuticiently, they can recommend disabling thumbnail caches, Hycudelete a thumbs.db fe, bbedisobled, However this is much easier which 's why itremoved the simple Windows wil smply recreateittne next to.do in Windows XP than in later snitch found in XP from later versions of time that folderis vewed in Thumbnal versions. Windows. CAN I SKIP THE WINDOWS 8 PASSWORD? To get touchscreen apps for my new Windows 8 ‘an administrator level Microsoft = ‘account, as usual. Then. from the laptop, | nave to be signed aia Start screen, type netphalz anc intoa Microsoft account, at tn gt or dng sant yore, press Enter In the User Accounts ‘Therefore. to open my computer. | See dialogue box thet appears, cick the have to type my password. Being cialecameaanaiemncsiies nameof the account that you'd Ike tthe only user. find this time ‘0 log into automatically (for ‘wasting and anuisance. If switeh ‘obvious reasons, only one account toa local account, Ican login Wehiwe ow ‘can be nominated to do ths), then without a passwore, but I can't get Homes clckte remove the tickfrom the apps. At the moment I switch ‘Users must enter a user name and between the two, How cant stay password touse this eomputer \with a Microsoft account. but not «Click Apaly. Now type and have to type a password? ‘confirm the password used to ‘access this account and then click This spossible though ‘0K Finaly. shut down yaur laptop obviously it does carry Panett noes inthe usual way. some risk - particulary Teanga pnd 2017 tng nd ic ‘When you nest switch on your witha laptop. which could be easly laptop. Windows 8 wil launch and lost er stolen f you falew our ‘We or troconmendtypassng the pessvord-espcaly on lepep automaticaly sgn nto the advice and subsequentlylose your nominated account. Te reverse this laptop, then bearin mind that anyone who extremely damaging. change iater,simply repeat the above finds wll have access net anly to However, you're happy oaccept this taps, tut this timettick the ‘Users must whatever sonthe computer, butalsolo —_levelofrisk.thenhere's what todo Make enter auser name and passwerd touse your Microsoft account and that couldbe sure you're logged into Windows Busing this computer’ box 18 | wwwcomputeractive.couk HOW DOI MAKE WINDOWS SHUT DOWN PROPERLY? Ihave an aging Toshiba ‘Satelite laptop with Windows Vista. When Itry to switch off, the message displayed by Windows says “Shutting down’ ~ butit stays that way forever. | want to switch off hhave to resort to removing the battery. What am | doing wrong? You'renot doing anything wrong, but sadly the cause cf thiskind of problem can bevery hard to fsoiate, Orrather, you're going to have to go through a process of elimination that couldbe lengthy and boring. Most likey, its single program (orprovabiyaseruice related toa program) that is causing this problem. The way to proceeds to Use Microsoft's System Configura- tion utility, which isincluded wth Windows, To do this. frst click Start ‘ollowed by run then type msconfig andhit Enter, Now click the Services tab andclck to tick the Hide all Microsoft services’ box. Note tt me eer es eres ray ra beeen | (teat tt sees Cox) Covet) Eee) Gl Click the Service heading to sort the serviceslphabeticaly, cick the Disable al button tocisable the lot. then click to re-enable the first service in the lst. ‘Obviously this could be anything, bbutmake a note of it. Click OK and then cick the Restart button, Chances are that your FC will now shut down successfully but you hnaven't yet found the cause ‘Youll need to repeat the above process, cisabling the frst service {and then re-enabling thenext one in the list, Eventually, the problem should recur and your PC wil fal toshut down and thanks to the notes you've been making you'll now have a good eve as tothe cause. Pop the battery out and restart your PC and then use your new information tox the problem, This might mean leaving the responsible service permanently isabledor, mare ikaly, removing, (er otherwise updating) the ‘program or application that Uses it. sea roots olininaton to warkour which serve causing your P's shutdown thang TECH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ais ere es CAN | SET LARGER FONTS IN WINDOWS 8? ‘have installed Windows 8 and also bought ‘a widescreen monitor. Ths latter purchase has reduced the sizeof the text in the Internet Explorer address bar and other Windows, toolbars. and itis now more difficult to read. can increase the size of what's displayed in the web browser not the address bar or toolbars. Please ‘canyou tell me where Lam going wrong? To change the size ofa tems onthe desktop, select a percentage from the lt, or crag the rr, Scale to this percentage of rormal size: | TESS 9 point Segoe UI. ‘Acormmon way to change the size of what's, dlisplayedin a web browser window (and ther applications inetuding Microsoft Office) s to hold dawn the Control Cri) key, while rolling the mouse wheel up or down, or tap the plus (+) and minus ©) keys on the keyboard ~ and we assume that's what you're doing. ‘As youhave discovered, this tick works only on the disolayed content. not the text labels displayed in toolbars and the text in the address bar. Te increase the size a those fonts in Windows & ‘youl frst need te flip to the traditional Windows Desktop ~ justclick the Desktop te onthe Start screen, Right-click on a blank part of the Deskte and cheese ‘Screen resolution’ then click tha Make ‘ext and other items larger or smallerink, Now click the ‘Custom sizing optins' ink and ‘choose a larger figure from the'Scale to this, percentage at normalize’ dropdown menu, You! have touse tral and error here tofind the size ‘that's comfortable for you. ick OK folowed by Apply and you'l be prompted to sign out of Wrvdons~ cick Sen out new: When you sign back in, the larger font wil be on show. wurmcomputeractive.couk [19 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide NNN CAN NsTALL WiNDOWS EXTERNALLY? WILLWINDOWS 8 DEFRAGMENT MY SSD? Ihave a large external hard drive on which Reading — = I wish to install Windows 7 rather than Boot napeeeensinermmntnontnh tering the present atop on my Windows “=eyeenrsnennrescwmennns computer. |s it possible to do this and would you Binamagsane recomend dango? recent ae armed bya pessnge that said vaerestnew Windows too Caleg Automate Wotenance helps ep your Pein good oor itautrnetcay performs outing = eee Tonks suchss Goran woes ote oni es . deitogmenting nasi igo thenard date The problem & 1 wel avarectSSDer es. inde ove avetwoscpaatcherddsks, | fesonvthy Mirosot ena the hit stecricaly possible te do this, we interalyonesanordnay foorooptnseorvesistacauset AW woucrrtveconner te Youcanpobaby andard saTmerve for vindows wanted toremve the concern onunce ngs total tssronour Vata.uinletre second drveiean— Casdty revere tates hare os but woe arn proces on SsDtmatlusciorwndowss.” —“rogmetstenrwhnen mentioned fren fyauco shee are edstions aves youl Youvepreveusy satnatitis _ntesamosentnceasseDs.So, have toconunce ie corputrtolosd incows Unwete defragment SSD aves, vinicoptise brvesuidetectand _‘Tomthsertera dete sow ana you settcouleadtedamage.tm. —Gspiyyoursbarveandindeee, scone the extemal denne mincows 7's Sonorngflewdausbete swenietyouclekiteoptinse uring tall case pobre Tis salecausea dkirogmenting fortis dre? There buitan~ilesragentdetaoriy_USEeannesten sel estencus tran ar ImistEequtealototpeoplenon ” onvadtona hard dats nen” operating jten Foeing the sttuation Sptimse eeleseawithan SSD “dk on ich your operating syetem's SGocteacthorestinsatonsst __instaedrecie ese conneteate te computer a Worry not Windows performed (osumruyou parler al tines Fora stander ean hts nt Aagmentatontoolinow SSD supports hen Sborobembutwih an external one ts esl GElodOptmseorvesjis” —Hyouvenotyerscovre the hreckedor puget rere ste mater ot Optimse Dives mokn Vincowe eas orn te extra sks Optimise ves KE Sitomtte fcsstetodstnison rest modarncomutersby Statsaeen Sarge the optorcinthe Bis mructons ifr type optimise depending on the computer's manufacturer. If you rack darvtwant ta overs your cuentersanct Setnes Windows throws? you cn real a secon iolowedby internal hard din your compton assurangitsa efragrnent _destop model wth coareremal reba ou andoptiise fan pekupa goeczed ternal ko esa thon Yourdrwe to S2p'romanyconputsr shop Once ts tesa hangerow” — Ganinsa Window 7 on that sc anceheose uch fen trons eperating yor oboot tarp fancy ‘ote sewer ght beto us tualsaton ‘aus runwiove 7 aca ual PCuthinyour ost tock) clck ‘Windows nation That nay heres ov sktrat Techarge canals pebemetoyourcurentiataaton ct setines Windows wl slower than apropristlgtion Seen rn ts ety bute tutrchesshassl then tate onan disk. See page 10 for mere on virtualisation 20 | wurw.computeractive.couk TECH QUESTIONS ENE WINDOWS fC CAN | WIND BACK WINDOWS SEVERAL YEARS? CAN | TRANSPLANT MY Is there an easy way of However, wile System Restore is, HARD DISK INTO A reverting Windows 7 back a relitle t's unikely that youll beable fewyears? Ineedto get rid of tose tto wind backmore than afew NEW PC? lots of programs. months because older Restore Points are automat cay deleted to make My Windows 7 desktop PC was bought Oneeasy way totum back room for newer ones. To see how far with a 465GB hard disk. later Windowstoanearier time is back you might be ableto go, click Upgraded by having a second. 18TB. touseSystom Restore, This Start. typessystem restore the hhard disk ited (this Is drive D), lam a keen ‘makes use of Restore Point torelurn search bar and then press Enter When photographer andl am loath to delete any the operatingsystem toaprevious —_the System Restore dialogue bex Images. My problem is that the two current state, while leaving your personal files appears. click Next and a ist of hard disks are quickly becoming full Asa and faers untouched Restore Points is displayed. Torestore result, [m considering buying a new PC with a ATE drive. Would itbe feasible to increase toanearier time, click to select one a and then elk Next and follow the capacity by putting the current drive D into a rmremanameemmmes W)nizarcl Your PC wil restart and you new PC, so that have an overall capacity of may have to wail for Windows to come almost 678? backtto ite. Realistically. though, itis fkely that Yes this should be very the eariest Restore Point willbe just a straightforward. Essential, t's no more few months old. As such, you'l ether difficult than opening up yeur old PC have to uninstal programs manually (with the power off), rermoving the 1 8TB drive (ick Start folowed by Control Pane! and inserting itinto the appropriate space (an then cick ‘Uninstall aprogram’ and empty drive bay)in your new PU and making eee ‘Sssasie=| iollow the prompts). oF bite the bulet the data andi power cable connections tothe and performma fresh installation of ‘matherttoard, When you suitch on your new PC, SSE] C=) Windows (having safely backed up all itll appear asa drive in Window's Explorer — ‘Sytem ResarevllenywindbacyouPCsofar your Berson files fitst. of Course) lust as it does on your current PC, The whole jal willtakojust afew minutes gatneo’ WHY IS MY HARD DRIVE SPACE Alternatively, if you're buying aap drive can be put inte an external USB enclosure, or cada kethe one below. These cost ust atex DISAPPEARING? pounds and the job sno ciferent, or more dificult. Then, you'l be able to connect the old hhard disk to your laptop using a USB cable. o have an issue with my Windows 7PC. is fitted with a 25068 hard disk drive, which is now showing only 93.868 free. Idon't have that many programs installed, and ror dol have much personal data. Ihave tried Disk Cleanup. got rid of loads of unwanted files, defragmented the drive — {and stil no joy. Is there a sethe nee Fulder Soto toverk ov nha eatin p8c0 utility !can use to find out what's taking up somuch space? _—_ allowing you to saeat aglance what is, taking up the most space. Ifthe culprit There are many cols that will istobvieus straight away, simply do this Folder Size, for click todril down for more deta ‘vera nos can make a inal reuse apn rape mil dsplayahard Folder Sicisa freedownload from ish’s folders according to their size, _yuwew.mindgems.com sww.computeractive.cou | 21 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide WHY DO SOME FOLDERS FILL THE SCREEN? ‘When | open My Documents. it ‘opens in a window that ‘occupies about half the screen, hich is convenient as I can drag it around the Desktop. However, some folders within My Documents open full screen, even though they contain only a couple of illes. This isa pain asi Prevents me dragging a file rom one folder to another. Is there any way Ian get these folders to open in a smaller Size? | run Windows XP. Lam also interested in using Ability Office 6. Has anyone written any books or manuals, about i? Widows wi remember JN tcrsicaiyvinctover window Sze ssetoy Heuser note erecta sel arene Mndons and fe cose them Tre ned Time ou open one ofthe windows wl open at he some szeandintne ame position as whan it was closed. Te do this with a full-screen window, click the Restore Downicon at the top-right of the window (it looks like two stacked ious remember th indo sis fo yuan ts eay oral squeres eft of the red cross). drag and drop the bottom-right corner of the window tothe desired sizeand then click the red cross to close the window. As for Ability 6 we haven't yet seenany books Gecicated to the suite but bear in mind thatit does come with its own documentation, albeit online only. Once the suite sinstalled, view it by clicking Start, then point to All Prograrns. followed by Abilty Offioe 6 then click User Guide, HOW DO | VIEW WINDOWS 8 APPS SIDE BY SIDE? Alriend of mine showed me how to display two apps side by side In Windows 8. However. when | ty this came method on my oun laptop a little HP laptop that | upgraded from Windows ? ~ nothing happens. Or rather when | try to drag an app to the side of the screenit wont ‘stick’in place -itjust bounces back to the middle, where it then expands to fill the display once more. My friend has tried it and he gets the same result, What are we doing, wrong? We donot thnk youare dong JN ervtinevrerg Our guests that yur laptop splays resolution 's Sly o0 te sueport Side-y-de apes ~ sometimes erred to as"shaped mode Toirake use of Windows & must be runningona used forthe folder by clicking.on the select that instead. Cick on OK. Comm (mono | Personae he ok oes vite Properties seww.computeractive.co.uk | 23 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide CAN | REMAP KEYS IN WINDOWS? bought myselfa little netbook ‘computer from a car-boot sale, just for abit of surfing on the sola. Because the keyboard is so small, sinew recommend backingup your Toney or | PC first = justin ena =) | caseanything itdoesn'thave deicated Page Up and oes wrong Fege Down buttons | have fo hold Choe nstaied, dwn a Function key to activate them. = faunch Ike to use these keys to scroll through = SharpKeys then websites, so this is annoying. More =e seectakey annoying thatthe keyboard has two = 3) | fromthe Shit and two Control (Ctr) keys ~ one ao lefthand Map set on the lft and another onthe right. ea thiskey ist Itstrikes me thatthe right-hand set =o (Special Right oul be put to better use (forme) 2s Se Ctrifor Page Up and Page Down. Is there 3 ea =| | ecmpie) simple way to achieve this? 7 folowed by one Jems) fromthe" this What you vento achieves mia ate rami cst the may your oars key ist (such as kroun.as keyboard mapping Special: Page jane there are plenty of rec ools _http/harokewscodenexcom. Down) Gick Okand then cick the that will othe b.One of the simplest _ Note tat by using tool such as wit fo Reg\sry button ~and that’s andmostfiexbleis SharpKeys,which _SharpKeys,changes wil be made tothe basally that. prompted torestart ‘cane downicadedfor free rom Windows Registry. 50, strongly your PC, dose. HOW DO I MAKE MY COMPUTER COMPATIBLE WITH SECURE BOOT? would lke toupgrade both my However, Secure Boot works only with __UEFI Bios. Essential, the Bios ~ UEF er laptop and desktop computers computers that have what skrownasa otherwise ~ sa bitof cade built nto the from Windows 7 to ‘motherboard that gets a Windows 8 When | used ompatibility ‘computer going before Microsoft's Upgrade Assistant mnt Windows itself ean launch tool to see if Windows 8 would anditake over. Mestnew run on them, both displayed this seme + | Pcsincludea UEFI Bios message: Secure boct isn't sc thai get ‘but obvousiy milions of ‘compatible with your PC. Your Yessir dn ngrtsere tet ean dlder ones don’t FC's firmware doesn't support ‘i What Uegrade Secure Boot so you won't be able Assistant is telling you to use it in Windows 8! How do Shogotantca with this message's that ‘make Secure Boot compatible Howrenme cri your computers are not with my PCs? Is there a box to 5 anata Compatioie withthe tickor a fle to delete, or isita —— Secure Boot feature, ‘matter of buying new computers HSeanmee because they have older because mine will just not accept Biases. Hewaver, that is Windows 82? oa not the same thing as Herne cette beeing incompatible with Secure Boot isa feature Windows 8 Assuming of Windews that's that Upgrade assistant designed to improve Hevwonermm ty reports no other security by preventing unauthor- problems, you have ‘sed software such as viruses and thing to worry about other malware fram running when ~andnonecd tobuy the PC's frst switched on new computers. 24 | wwww.computeractive.comk TECH QUESTIONS EYES WINDOWS WHERE IS MY MISSING MEMORY? have a PC running the 32-bit ‘edition of Windows. recently upgraded its memory by fitting, ‘wo 2GB memory modules. This should, of course, give me 4GB of ‘memery in total. However when | check the memory Windows says that only 2.968 is available. Ihave tried moving ‘the memory modules from slot to slot, but it makes no difference. Where is my ‘missing memory? Tiere moral A ee tering reason very tecrial ut essen 22-58 Compersare inte Oa maxirum ot {aber stress memo. Comper te va propies card ffathos tab ot tis own memory. or brain, hen tnt hOB musta be Secessed ann tne asresao clint S68 cfecvey promtngthe Pos ccheckis that Windows tselfisn't artificially restrctingthe auallsble memory, Todo this, cick Start, type ‘msconfig and press. Enter this wil launch the System Configuration utility. Click to select the Boot tab and then click the Advanced — ee cee, ‘options button. IF (eens _ "NS __neeenennmemet _) the Maximum heck our Stem Properties tose om mich memory your PCs using memory box is from addressing IGB of ts own memory. Short of upgrading toa 64-bit edition of Windows, there isrit much you can do tobe able to make use ofthe full AGB of pphysicalmemory. However, one thing to ticked, click to clear it. Click OK and OK again, then restart ‘your PCand check thernemery figure anew (Noid down the Windows key and tapthe Pause/Break key) to see'if more isnow avaiable. HOW DO! GET RID OF UNDELETABLE FILES? have an old PC running Windows XP. AS its own hard isk is quite small store much ff my data on an external dre. Ihave discovered some corrupted files on this drive, which | suspect resulted due to me having removing the drive without “waiting for the'safe to remove" message. ‘cannot open these files and Windows, refuses to delete them, Am! stuck forever with these undesirables? The action thatyoudesorie—re- JIN) trcvng serve beter wrcowe Masletyeulnew tht tis atta oso ~can indeed oadto corned ane thatabi es Thess cay tayo remove such hangers-on vith vinous tiene butfortunatey te prety 35) Tao withtre sofware ot cop cd ae stat MovoOre ct! ice mwtanpeacom/ooe Uurchthe popramcicethe Delete baton rates os beste erthe Beco elalgue bor tt gobo. Chek he buttontbeled wth ite dks, ‘Sutter les canbe easy removes using ie sotware navigate the affectedifiles and then ‘cick taselect them ~ had dawn Control Cir!) to select several in Lndeletable fies willbe deleted. wowwicomputeractive cou | 25 er cre Ultimate Guide IS IT SAFE TO DELETE THE INSTALLER FOLDER? o Using a utility called Disk Space Fan (www diskspacefan.com) reveals that a folder on my PC called Installer is taking up 11GB of hard disk space. My investigations to date suggest that this contains updates for various Windows tools. ‘Are any of these files expendable or do | have to keep collecting them lke stamps? The simple answer is that you should Not delete anything from the Installer folder. There's a reason why Windows Explorer keeps it icden (oven whan it's set to display hidden files and folders) —and that's because deleting anything from the installer folder could lead to problems with your software or Windows. infact, Microsatt once released a tool called the Windows instaler Cleanup Utity that could be used to rciaim space from the Installer ‘older —out even ths efficial tool caused probiems, so Microsoft withdrew it. In tspplace, Microsott released the Program Instal and Uninstal troubieshooter, which you'llfnd at is = |ust click the green ‘Run naw’ button and folow the prompts. This replacernent too doesn't free up space so much asfixany problems that may have occurred during the instalation or uninstallation of programs. Howaver as afalad installation (or uninstallation) could indeed end up leaving unnecessary fiesin the Installer foider. I's -worth running because 11GB is more than you should expect to tnd there. ‘Miczosf offre ol that can dean usta les 26 | www.computeractive.couk HOW DO! REMOVE UNWANTED. ERROR FILES? lluse the Windows 7's Disk Cleanup tool on two cifferent ‘Acer computers. When | (ean up your Pn adinisalr mode perform a scan, alarge number of system-error memory-cump files are detected, but when | select them for removal they are left untouched, Is there a way for me to clear ‘them off my hard drive? Inorder for Dsk Cleanup FAY be compcrly etectne seuneestoruntn ‘administrator mode. Fist, click the Start button, then paint to All 1s followed by Accessor es, stem Tools, Now right-ciek the Disk Cleanup shortcut and select the Run as adimnstrator ‘option from the pop-up menus “Type your Windows administra tor password (if prompted todo so) ‘and run through the cieanw process in the way you have done before ~ this time youshould find that you are abie to delete ‘everything you want. WHY CAN'T! ACCESS THE WINDOWS, STORE? | have installed Classic Shell www classicshellnet) to restore the Start button to fndows 8, s0 I'm finally finding it ‘okay touse. However. Lam not able to make use of the Windows Store. | {ried disabling Windows Firewall and iy Kaspersky security software, but this didn't helo, ‘Are you logged in to Windows vwith a Microsoft account? Though t's possible to browse the Windows Store when using alocal ‘account, Mierosaft account is required to down cad and instal nnew-style apps ~ so we think that you orignally set up Windows 8 with 2 fecal account To change this, rom the Start screen open the Charms bar (hold {down the Wincows key and ta C), then cick Settings followed by ‘Change PC settings Now cick Users Login amterosotaccautto access the Store inthe left-hand pane and then, in the fight-hand pane, clck’Switeh toa Microsoft account’ and folew the ‘wizard te complete the sign-up process, Note that you do net have to luse a Micrasolt-owned ermal service, such as hotmailco.uk or gutiook com, inorder to set up 2 Microsoft account. but you wil need to provide two ema) addrosses ~ the second being fer backup purposes. WHY CAN'T | CONNECT TO AHIDDEN WI-FI NETWORK? West Country. As the visit was along Cone. | took my Windows 7 laptop so ‘that could get oniine using their Wi-Fi connection. However, | found that | couldn't do so because my friend's wireless network was ‘hidden’ By reading the manual, he eventually worked out how to ‘unhide' his router so that | could get connected, but itleft us both ‘wondering = how do his Windows 7 computers connect to his network? He dict originally set the system up himself. so we were both a bit perplexed. Teconnect Windows 7o hidden JIN rescoreyounceat adc the amecton's cetats manual, Todo ths ltterk the netvorcicon nthe Nottcaton Ars. then cok Open Networkand Steg can New lek Manage wees Tehves thef hand pae clowed bythe Fabutton Clekthe Marval) reste network protle-option then pe thohdon netvort’s name and security key (password) into the fabvant ids Aso chose tre sear ype frome dropdown men ptcaly xs bs Wenz: Persona) along wt tere yption ype {Gauaty Ta Pray oka sure hobo peer gece eee Crmect ever the htwotk snot breadeastng are tek. Cc Nxt flowed Close and Thncows 7 hou ccnoe ht on. | We recently stayed with friends in the Gt msperete nee, ccna er megnae Selupa manta comecton Hen networks WHERE ARE RECURRING APPOINTMENTS. IN WINDOWS 8 CALENDAR? {have just moved over to Windows 8 In the Calendar ‘app I want to set an’ appointment for the third Thursday of every month, but it seems to lack such an option I could do this in Micrasoft Works, Surely Windows 8 ‘must be capable of this? oT oo % Some options in Widows ar ar td TECH QUESTIONS ENE WINDOWS Infect, tispossbe to set PN ccsrina tpointmenssn Veraows SC aerdartat the ‘option shen fram view. Fistclck somewhereon the calendar view to begin setting up an appeintrient. Fill out the fist part of the form, selecting the third Thursday ‘of the month from the When dropdown menu. 'Now move down the form to find the'Show more’ nk cickit. Select Every month tron the How often’ dropdown menu: Ifyou vant to piace a imitonits recurrence, click the Set fend date" button and use the date box that appears. Fillout the est ofthe appointment form, adding atte and appointment details, and setting 2 reminder if required, and then click the save icon (atloppy disk) atthe top right, fuse the keyboard shorteut Control HOW DO! MOUNT AN ISO FILE? Recently | began using 3 Virtualisation software program to try out Windows. 8.1 It was simple enough and seem to have caught the bug ~ I'm always creating new virtual machines. However. 've been doing this by burning ISO files to dise and then using these discs to set up new ‘operating systems in my virtual machines. read elsewhere that rather than do this itis possible to ‘mount an ISO disc image within the virtual machine, as though itwere a real diso ~ a virtual disc inside the virtual machine | suppose, However. | ‘can't wrk out how to do this, so my Virtual machines always boot from a disc. luse VMWare Player. sit possible? It would save me on blank Dvds! ‘es. itis possible. First create your virtual machine in the Usual way. Now right-click its entry inthe ist of virtual machines and ort scapes instead of brig tem choose tual chine Seng fom fhepopue manu Now sexi. cor tv gb erty under Boace oho lt cloned by ee eo tnage the heGonation ning ete "cathe Bowcevuton Bese you Soils eax soe Tine lek Gpen Chk Oto cso sheViiua Machine Sot gs logue felsoe 2 wow.computeractive.coxuk | 27 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide SHOULD | IGNORE WINDOWS UPDATES TO SAVE MY 3G DATA? ‘My only option to get online is Via a3G mobile broadband dongle. on the Three network From Three's information, 1GB of data for a month sounded about right ~ 10 hours online or 1,000 emails. What | didn't realise was how hungry for data my new desktop PC was going to be. | have only used my dongie a few times ‘and have been online for less than 45 minutes and used up haif my allow- ance. | have since turned off news feeds {in the hope this may help) and I'm ‘wonderingiif| could make other savings by ignoring or delaying Windows. updates? How can | monitor my 36 data use? Youcan montor your data use FAYE oy visitine wwwthree cok Ano vwhen connected tothe Three Network — lust click the ‘Check your ‘alowance' link, However. gnoring or detaying Windows updates is nota good idea, as itll leave your PC exposed to fiw Welcome to My3. ‘any number of winerabiities that would ctherwise be identified and fixed by Microsoft. Withraliable anti-virus software installed the risks small inthe short term, but you're only delaying the inevitabie— you'l need to apply Windows Updates eventually, It you have fends with broadband then one possiblity would be to use their ‘computer anc connection. This means youcan use the Microsoft service that lets users downlcad al the atest Updates as a dise-image file that can be bbumed to OVD. Visit www.snipea. comfagg6 to downicad the current months disc-image file and burnt to DVD .Ifyour friend doesn't have DvD-burning software installed then there are pienty of free tools that will do the ob, such as CDBurnerXP (despite its ramet both burs DVDs and works with ‘Windows 7)— gett from hetpe// ‘edburnerxp.se, The resulting OVD Contains al thelatest updates for ll current versions of Windows ~ just use Windows Explorer to oll down through the folders to find the atest Windows 7 updates However, thisis unikely to be a practical long-term solution. Infact, we ‘think you are going to have to face the harsh fact that 1GB of monthly data isn't sufficient for a desktop computer, unless ‘you do almost nothing with itor are prepared to accept the sk of ignoring Windows updates, Dbvicusly sare plans offer more. data, but you may find you are better off buyinga cheap smartphone. signing up for Three's The One Plan SIM-only deal (which offers uni ted data) and using tethering to have this smartphone act as your PC's permanent unlimited data Connection. Indeed, just as we went to press Thrae reduced the price af The One Plan contract from £25 to £15 per month (or £18 per month ona one: ‘mont roling contract) At this price it's bargain, and seems like the perfect solution for you ost mola dat previ il alow youtologina our aosount ano check your alone 28 | wwww.computeractive.couk CAN | UNINSTALL THE WINDOWS 8.1 PREVIEW? loaded with Windows 8. Recently downloaded and installed the ‘preview’ version of the Windows 8 ] upgrade. Following ‘his upgrade lam experiencing problems with Flight Simulator 2004 and Flight Simulator X.In ‘the 2004 edition | get double vision with colours ‘and with Xit loads but then drops out. accept ‘hat these programs are not compatible with Windows 8.1, s0 is it possible to revert back to ‘the original Windows 8 installation? Unfortunately. it's not possible to Uninstall Windows 81 if you have installed iRover the top of your ex sting operating system. This 's amajor upgrade to Windows and you can't use System Restore to rollback to a time before you instaledit Youcan ether reinstall Windows 8 trom seratch using your recovery media, or dothe same from within Windows 81. In either case You wil need fo ensure you have a backup of Your fies and appl eations before youstart. To do the job from within Windows 8.1, press the Windows key and at the same time to open the Charms bar and click Sottinas fo lowed by ‘Change PC settings’ Click the "Update & recovery link to the left ofthe screen, then click Recovery. Cck the’ Get started’ button under the Remeva everything and reinstall Windows heading and fallow the displayed instructions to revert to Windows 8 You wil need to reinstall your applications once the process is complete. ‘Anyone who installed the Windows 8.1 preview over the top of Windows 7, Vista or XP will need to einstal their original operating system from scratch ~ usually from the orginal DVDs. This willwipe all data from your system: ‘again making backups frst s essential. ol have a Dell XPS 8500 PC that came Remove the Window. revew y esting Windows HOW DOISTOP THIS ANNOYING MESSAGE ON MY PC? My computer isan eMachines E525 running Vista Home Basie SP2. Every time | start it up Iseean error messages with the title ‘Wizard could not launch which .3085 on to say’Make sure your audio harcware is working properly land check your audio configuration in the Audio Devices ang Sound Themes control panel: How can stop this annoying message from appearing? Thsmessage usualy J oe estyine Speech Resogitoncomoret of Windows The wizard referred to's the audio-setup process tat ensures your microphone attached! and working properly. ‘You have not said that you are experiencing problems with the Speech Recognition feature, so we're going to assurme that you're not actuzlly trying to use t- you may have accidertiy enabledit at ‘Speech Recognition | Ted to Speech | Language iid Rnd cgi BG EG TECH QUESTIONS ENE WINDOWS some point. The fact thatthe etror message appears as 5007 25 ‘Windows starts is because Speech Recognition can be used te contra ‘your computer and therefore the too) has to launch at the same time as Windows, Attaching a micraphone would probably suppress the message, i that's you want, or Speech Recogntion can be cisabled entirely Todothis, type speech inte the Start menu's search bar and click Speech Recognition in the Control Pane section of the ist above. Cick ‘Rdvanced speach options’ on the left and click the Acvanced button in the Microphone section at the tom, Select the ‘Use this audio input device'radio button and sel your connected micraphonebelore licking OK. ifinstead you want to aisabe Speech Recognition, move te the User Settings section and untick the tox labeled Run Speech Revs tion at startup! Click OK and restart VSpeeciPropetics Trang yur poe wil morove your speech recognition cura. User Setinge CBie Seqe Racoon aint (TD Revieg documents and mato improve accuracy ead ouronvacy tates ovine Sty era ecptinomlamctng sey eye sas > www.computeractive.co.uk | 29 er cre Ultimate Guide 3% FAST FIXES HOW DOISOLVE WINDOWS AUTOPLAY PROBLEMS? aN eee pT as area} raw Azo Dace CSE TECH QUESTIONS AND ANSWER: WINDOWS CANIUPGRADE MY PC TO WINDOWS 8? Does your PC run Windows 7, Vista or XP? Yes] | NO t 1 Does it have a GHz processor and 1G8 of memory? yes [No Can the PC be easily Upgraded to meet these Run the Upgrade Assistant requirements? [aww snipea.com/o300) Does your PC pase the ves] | NO program's test? YES] NO £ 7% Do you want to keep your Can your PC's hard disk or programs and documents in ‘graphics card be upgraded place when upgrading? fomest the requirements? ves sere Pata Peet Does your PC currently run Windows 7/Vista or xP? xP] | 7AISTA 1 Ue sees ere ares Pee een coated i 2 sww.computeractive.cou | 31 TECH QUESTIONS i AND ANSWERS Section 2 Phones and tablets Anew technological era began on 29 June 2007 when Apple launched the first iPhone. It heralded the touchscreen era, in which we could swipe and tap to do amazing things with tiny portable devices. Of course, it also meant a whole new way that technology could go wrong, from apps freezing to screens locking. The iPad followed in 34 Can | print to a non: AirPrint printer from an iPad? 36 How do | remove iS apps from my purchased ist 2010, bringing more touchscreen magic to iOS users, while Google fought back by selling millions of its Android-powered devices. Both operating systems are brilliant, but both also suffer from frustrating flaws. Whatever type of device you use, read on for solutions to dozens of tablet and phone-based problems. 39 43 Why are my Nexus 7's Why won't Freemake maps sometimes poor _ install on my Android quality? tablet? 44 Where's the Android browser forward button? 45 How do | change my Apple ID? 47 49 Why can'tIwatch Sky+ — How do | get footpath, programmes on my maps on my Nexus 7? Pa wor computeractive can | 33 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide HOW DO | MAKE iOS 7 CAN I PRINT TO A NON-AIRPRINT EASIER TO READ? i‘ | upgraded my Phone to 1057 to see PRINTER FROM AN iPAD? [oy ester eoe nel one rte some ofthe changes nowt re UhoveanAcerAepie -towarkyourprilermusttes _tetrealytrdtoroad"k pattoemetnnmer laptep connected Worimelolérbestgcnedioa sr hte the some prtlembetre upgraded 99 Wirelecsitoa Del V305W comguiertst'spareltiesame _Impretyaure ts semathing nowin IOS Arey akerorapiiiocymiehas eoossratonvostseiOSevee, eyordnsliing mesifout fer anyway to? maniytoureesbpeited. "Sylar hecossouten weve enter? saloon) Whicnehecvey Sheeler we ghetoreor oe Bhorusond Posie Gases Preto cost USte Mood oreventokethe teloger whch oat desgestocttoenyarPrnt. Grounds so) butthereareatew _poaiee mearlarversoreo 60) Ropevomisecsglre ect Masverkinaliteriwaye, Garsraltenhecesiblin Not empounihe {Encogrardiiccttesseritte tuithecosisalsinaner® Sacentotiste Botte upton” taste och SeuporconiguatanUnori opencontentinthesesppa usrg tose othe On pootonctriswilmke txt ook nate your Del ter wae tedpermroptontromanotner taveeriesolke Fasbeore OS Ayu wants Pocelscerliausbeere sypondimnprttoyurnihy moleveted Sager her aplorger vpesr compete FrsaledenyourPemosutacot —"“Fravruieyeute nthe seco screen Meonrgtispasbelopniton Leer acltes ——— wlanbacgroues aSoncetonomabint ” ercon'enocerinbwcctiman, — eenbeerereuness printers in many situations, Forthis snipeacom/g279). rk om < General Accessibility ‘Automatically speak auto-corrections and auto-capitalisations, Larger Type on Bold Text q® Increase Contrast on © On/Off Labels HEARING Hearing Aid Mode Heating Aid Mode improves performance L “= with some hearing aids, but may reduce Presto pit ast any tr dtr your Pada Phone mectiiereseplionge (hang thelookot105 Ts text tomake much ear tore 34 | www.computera HOW DOISPOT AND DELETE DUPLICATE MUSIC FILES? Ihave a large music collection and | \want to organise it. Some of the music, Ihave bought online is stored on my 'Pad. lean transfer these to my PC but I mainly ssave my music files onto an external hard disk ‘and. over time, 've added new or multiple versions of tracks into different subfolders. Is there a way of moving all my music files into fone folder so that I can spot and delete the duplicates? nN One way to spot duplicates would be to search the entire external drive for ‘music fies and then sort them by name inthis way you'd be able to sre! through the stofmatches and easily spat duplicates, To da this, launch Windows Explorer by holding down the Windows key and tapping E then navigate to your external driva. Cickin the top-rght search bar and type the desired search string. Te finda MP3 fies, for exainple, you'd type "mp3 Press Enter and Windows Explorer vill search the drive ~ it could take a few minutes to ‘nish ityou havea lot of fies. When the completediist is displayed, cick the Name heading tosortthe titles alphabetically. What you do next is up to you: If you simply want to delate the duplicates, but retain your existing folder structure then sero through the ist to find and delete any duplicates lust clickto select a ile then press Delete. You can select multiple files ty holding donn the Control (tr) key, click ng one fe after anather. then pressing Delete. you want to consolidate the remaining fies into sing\efoider, select the entire lst (Control + Ais aquick way todo this), then open a new ploter window and drag and drop al the selected files into the ddosired folder cor drive, When the process is complete, return tothe first Explorer window and delete the selected files Fed dpicate th Windus ols TECH QUESTIONS EW PWS aie) PHONES & TABLETS. CAN I TRANSFER MY APPS TO A KINDLE FIRE HD? lam thinking of buyinga easily downloaded from the lous. Kindle Fire HD. presentiy To doth’s,cpen the relevent ibrary havea Kindle Fire, Wil be (Books, s2y) then tap the Cloud tab able to transfer allof my apps and ari tap the tems that you wish to bbooks to my new device? synchronise. Repeat for other Yes. Content that you! ight via Amazons Appstere for Android can be Iryou have transterred content froma PC or Mac, then you can opoat the process on the Kindle Fire HD - lust attach itvia SUSE cable and the device in Windows Explorer Frome you can drag and drop stu Re-domload opps anbooks stright youre Knee HOW DOI VIEW THE ETA IN APPLE MAPS? '’mtired of having to pay for map updates for my TomTom sat-nav, $0 decided to try Apple Maps app on my iPhone 5 instead. For this purpose. | bought a cheap dash- board bracket for my iPhone. I'm pleasantly surprised with the results, However, one annoyance ~ ‘Apple Maps doesn't show the estimate timed of arrival or | remaining distance when en route. It shows this information before | set off butit disappears just as ‘soon as hit the road. Is there away to make this information remain visible? ‘Yes. and the methods very simple. Just tap anywhere onthe Apsle Mace screen andbothvets swil bedspayed To hide this information, just tap once a > more Ainge tne we ee ip eo wonw computeractive.conk | 35 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide HOW DO | REMOVE iOS APPS FROM MY PURCHASED LIST? Overthe past twoyearsihave installed ortkingupanyspace}on Tunes Storebution an scrlldownto Gyelosdednenapgstony YourlOScavea tutheremevatcdeto {dana cic thefurhese ink coloy (Scere and receny tte Jownoadsraitallepprethecus the feskurcoheadng= tecooured ey Deensitomtngogeidcriacinat lcanwcuusenine) Siloti necien saule eldiose Now cla he Inolonger want elcngtnemtrom loselsactualyatuton”taptenathe, Agpebuton atthe ton the tunes thohowe seceniene pebiom.bur—Sepviligurch because stl tled wre torovea acomplia ihnne toperha hee trae ecru cee fate Purchased sitheappsTiecrertad. “hist cn possbe to raseyour By deus sorta th he ster eevee coe oe eco te eT eee eerie cio Bice oGhe te ecssts aio ee ter ea oe em ‘Tyan Wataretiec seerticons chiara dep jes tte urturpous buttosoropes araigote andistnere anyway get id Pchaseistonyeur oScevee you patel aly cekte button ongside of old apps once and for all? have iOS 5 installed, this is very easy: ‘Sort By at the top right and choose fitawpecverteunvantadtem inte Name ycetritenanddesign het0S chat stanaten pte de ‘eigen ape hove verisiconn Plrchasedisidenayerery lon the Tinsel smal ess sopyouvecrerbougrt ee eee ene om CSUs ee ear ere cn EDU Tec ora Age tissiesemenodeesterowd nde dk icetocortim, Repeat ee ae tees ere em eC AAD te Meee ioe ere emioasardaaltner)eseud thenyeulreadtelauveh tunes never fomyaur bSevees Puro It iConyoucescrbemnestsprevasy tolidepucresediems.intunesil twnsyncironseyeur doves wi Tunes porchaseeappetnatarenetcureny —(he\ststversonseletthetop-ight toapeythecnanges ix rr a [46 > > os « @ File Fait View Controle Store Help Sa Purchased iam 2 Music ©] Films 2 TVProgrammes Apps: Books a [et on Tie Compo a ‘Ave you sure you want to hid tis purchase?” ‘Youcan uid pucnasos tom your Aecourt tormaton page |__ em ty _BQ wenodorin ig me ‘ova pax Stepchild vanes 36 | www.computeractive.coale WHY DO SOME iPHONE APPS APPEAR SMALL? I treated myself to an Phone 5 ~ my first Apple device. One thing that's mystifying me is why some apps seem'smaller' than ‘others. To explain, like to play the ‘geocaching game, where go hunting for hidden tems with the help of a GPS. device. For this, }downloaded and installed the Geocaching Intro app via the Geocaching website (at ww. ‘ggocaching.com. It works fine but it doesn't seem to fill the whole of the screen, as apps do. I've seen a few other apps that do the same. Why is this? Before the iPhone 5 came alone, with its din display. ai Apple iPhones were fitted with a 35in screen Specifically, the iPhone 5isfitted with adisplay made up of 640«),136 pices, while older Phones have screens that measure 640x960 pirels — a 1B Panos sope gen iiony efeciv> Mozmitomnee Tenn a2 mitomenmenioe see a) 1 285.01 Ouwen toe F471 = Diny Hs Sozmitontee Tere) Yee $02m om sack ne Landmark Journey 4: Demi Bi ae ae ‘Same app av been upd ora oe seen difference of 176 ines of herizantal resolution hiss relevent because hundreds of thousands of apps were released before TECH QUESTIONS NETS PHONES & TABLETS the Phone 5 pitched up, and all of those vwiere writen to fil 40x960-pie displays. Many app developers have Updated their apps to expiot the iPrione 5's taller screen, but not all of them. To ensure the greatest evel of compatt ity Apple's solution's to alow apps that hhave not been updated to run inthe mide of the Phone 5's 640x1,136-pixe! display. Black bars are placed at te to and batter, so the techn que s barely Noticeable (on a black iPhone 5 at least = ona white mode’, the method 5 glaringly obvious in contrast) Groundspeak — the developer behind the ‘official geccaching app that you're Using ~ has since released an update to its app. which has fixed this issue. ‘Anyone wholhas an app with biack bars at the top and bottom of the screen should check the App Store forthe latest version of the app to see if this, addresses the problem. CAN | SET UP AN iPAD WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S COMPUTER? Ihave a friend whois interested in purchasing an iPad, but does not have a computer orinternet ‘access, Could he use another friend's Vodafone Micro SIM computer to set up the iPad with iTunes. (end occasionally update iOS and apps) and use free public hotspots to surf the web and chack emails? A360 €6-naie Pat uit low-cost SIM-niy data plans allyou neds get nt Tester rover tobeshyour FAD ests eyes iewcsrt x your erased that since (OS 5, which launched in Cetaber 2011, there has been neneed to ‘own a computer in order to Set up an Pad (or any other iOS devices for that matter) On all devices with'OS 5 onwards and that means alinew iPads ~ everything can bbeddone on the device itselt,inctuding mejor systern updates. in cther words, iPadsare now entirely self-contained devices that no longer need to rely an POS ‘er Macs. For full nstructions onhow to ‘check for and apply updates ‘over the air in OS, head to page 40. Thare's stl the matter of internet ‘access. Security concems notwithstand ing. public hotspots will work cut f your friend's onlineneeds are mited then advise him to buy a3G or 4G-enabled iPad and then pay for amabile dat SIM-only data deals suitable for the iPad are available on monthly or even daly tartisat atfordable rates ss won computeractive.cauk | 37 er cre Ultimate Guide WHICH PERMISSIONS SHOULD | AGREE TO WHEN | DOWNLOAD APPS FROM THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE? o Ihave always been cautious about downloading apps to my phone as some of the ‘permissions’ that you must agree to shen downloading seem very intrusive: And probably in some instances, totally unnecessary. One such app is the Avast Mobile Security tool. run Avast on my PC and it seams to be fine, but lam App permissions Mobile Security & Antivirus Your messages Storage loath to download the Android version because of the amount of permissions ‘that you have to agree to. For example, itwants access to my storage. system tools, email and text (SMS) messages, phone calls and various personal Information, including my web browser's history and bookmarks, ‘Am Ibbeing paranoid or is there too Bookmarks and History Your applications information Your accounts Phone calls Network communication Your social information seat to be supious of pps that requis fermions 38 | www.computeractive co.uk ‘much information requested here? ‘Thisis a very good question. You are sensibe to be cautious about installing apps te your Android device, particulanly those that request unfettered access to your personal information, Faw Ancroid devices offer bult-n permissions management yet it takes only moments for an app to grab al sorts of information. However, at the same time some apps have a legitimate need for permissions in order for example amessaging. access to your contacts, while a wed browser will obweusly need access to the internet When it comes to Avast Mobile Security the nature ofthe tool - securty ~rmeans that itneedsaccess to very ‘of your Android smarthione ‘Without this access, would not be able toinspect the areas it needs to check that evarything is secure Itithe'ps, think of Avast Mobile Security as 2 prison guard witha skeleton key. The guard is trusted not to sohis master key toalowal the prisoners to escape; and similarly, you must trust Avast with these wide-ranging permissions sothat itcan protect you from less honourabie apps. Avast itso says: "We take prvacy very serious The permissions required by the app vere the minimum set that was needed toimpiement the functionally (On the matter of Ancroid permissions generally, on mest devices the only way tomenage them at agrenularlevelisto root your smartphone or tabiet ~ this, basicaly means installing a'clear’ version of Anco, tree ot all manufacturer tveaks and restrictions I isn't something we d recommend erally ~ and certainly not to newt =butif you fancy giving ita go, the best bot sto search Google tofind specific instruction for your phone (the process varies fram device to device) TECH QUESTIONS NETS PHONES & TABLETS. HOW DO! PUT DVDS ONTO MY iPAD? WHY ARE MY NEXUS 7'S MAPS SOMETIMES POOR QUALITY? [Oy exes terestccntseamstasen the UK I think they are Region 1! can MP3 format, there are countless programs out thara that are able te heipwith the conversion of DVDs into other formats, Mary of these are complicated, andit can also be difficult to track down software that is able to cope with ifforent types of cise. One rliable program's Wink wwwowinadvd coméévd-rinner|, wich in both tree and paicifor versions. The free version can be used to convert DVDs into MP4 format, which youcan then transfer to your Pad, The UK Government is planning changes to the law to let people create copies of some copyrighted ‘© Tum on GPS and mobile network location materials for personal use ~ and ths includes films prove locat To-enhance your Maps experience: = but the leg’siation is unikely to extend to cracking’ digtai-rghts-managemant (DRM) Never show this a systems, such as CSS. So proceed at your own risk, Sensioly. you should rig only DVDs thatyou Skip have made yourself or, considering the proposed changes to the law, commercial dises that do nat contain DRM protection. For mere about the proposed changes to UK copyright laws, read he Hargreaves report and the latest information The Nexus 75 PS trnscoher scaly Gabi by ace -bt sine -enbl to at the intelectual Property Office wabsite > (www sninca.com/s7?) wwrw.computeractive.co.k | 39 Certara thi} Ultimate Guide ve read a lot about 0S 711 HOW DOI UPGRADE TO iOS 7? emer don't know where to start. What do | “=! Software Up neo tooo? ios 7.02 Upciatingyour Phone 4—orary | Fatma 10S 7-0. Comparbeosacree‘ortat” | gg S266 matter ~ should be straighttor- \ward, assumingit is runningiOS 5 or later. Ths isbecause iOS Sand later the Lock seen passcode ecitions can be updated ‘over the arias | + Relueduces a Greek keyboard anton for the jargon would have it. Basically this passcode ony means that iPhone, iPads and iPods can update themseives, without having te be attached toa computer (as was the case beforei0s 5) To do this, tap Settings folowed by ‘General and then Software Update. I an update is found, tap Install Now followed by Agree then wait whe the update 's downloaded and installed everything will happen automaticaly from here. Upto itera Taner onthe devin ist [Note that you should attach your iPhone to amas charger before proceeding Aternat vely it's also possible to parade to the latest version of your ‘operating system via Tunes. fyou regularly syne your Phanewith your PC wa Tunes youshould see a message next time youde so informing you that’A new iPhone software version (70) s available’ not, click the’ Check for Update toutton on the MTunes Summary screen. We recommend selecting the Download Only option and performing a manual backup of your ‘phone via the Tunes Surnmmary Screen before instaling the upgrade. 08 7is compatible wth the iPhone 4 and jater. the Pad 2and later, the Pad Mini, andthe fifth-generation Pod Touch and later. HOW DO | REMOVE EMAIL ADDRESSES THAT MY iPHONE. {nave an iPhone and iPad. which REMEMBERS WITHOUT ME SAVING THEM? synchronise my contacts using 1 Q| Apple's iCloud service. | didn’t ‘set this up myself - the man in the Apple ‘shop helped me get the devices ‘communicating. Recently. a friend ‘changed jobs and got a new email address to go with it. updated the email address on my Pad and. sure enough, the update was synchronised to my iPhone, so now both devices have the ‘correct email address in the Contacts app. However, when | use the Mail app and start typing my friena’s name to send him an email, his old acdress appears as wellas his new one, i's nota big problem as just tap the new one and all's well, but is annoying to sea old ‘address still pop up. It's not saved in Contacts, so don't even know why it should appear. How dic it get there? ‘And how can I get rid of itonce and forall? a Tim Smith ope Thm Smiths at Create Now Contact 10S ramemsers oma acresses ou have recat usd 40 | worw.computeractive.coue Thisis aresutofios remembering recentiy used oma addresses, a3 well as those stored bythe userin the Contacts app. In fact the operating system does this to be hou because not everyone to whom you sendan email will exst as arecord in the Contacts apo Clear ngenties isthanktully straightforward, ifnot entirely obvious. Start anew emai to your friend and, ‘hen the redundant email adaress appears, tap the righthand biue arrow (emai addresses that are stored in the Contacts app have no such arrow). Tap ‘the large, red Remove From Recents button at the bottem of the screen and the ema iaddress wil instantly be forgotten Note that this sereen can also be used tocreate a new contact far the typed emal address, or toad theemall address to an exsting contact ~ lust tap the retevant button RE 120001 SyNcHRONSE A IS ANDROID 4.2.2 FAULTY? ae Shuto sneohad »< art eu Itistrue that Android 4.2.2 datew new 3s well as fing others. This very much par far the course for software updates, down the pawer button for up ta particulary undates to operating conds), these are largely stems. Windo for anecdotal example find themselves more news is thet Android less permanentiy waiting fo 43 fixed many of the problems applying bug fixes. report 7 users Asa Lag = where many things just ertainly awide'y reparted issue 144,22, While there a ted fixes doin remind Check now 1d ollow tl Nowus ompts to update you Safar utes sometinesseem case almost s mary problems they q TECH QUESTIONS EW PWS aie) PHONES & TABLETS. MODERN SMARTPHONE? Ihave an ageing Palm Treo 680 that! synchronise tomy PC using a dedicated program. ve started to look at more ‘modern smartphones, but they all sem to sync to expensive email systems such as Outlook. I want ‘to be able to synchronise my emails and diary with ‘the PC and don't want to have to spend money.en Outlook. Can you advise? ortant to clarify how m hones synchronise. Ther :toly no reianes en paid-for lke Qutlook (though smartphones are able synchronise with this and othe but peritaps EE simplest way il would eto sgt UupforaGoogle | ma accout at aa a httos:accounts sooale.com 1 Use ths 0 i me ncrronseticn | AhWe Messapes vith almost any Sects mesg itsdifieut to otter specific instructions unt! ou ve settled ona perticvier smartphone, need to tap dors, ther toaina Iseasytosyecyour phonetics dys ssis often e automaticaly. (la your web browser) enindowsEssontasual seal www.computeractive.couk | 41 stion willbe set u WHAT TABLET SENDS AND RECEIVES TEXT MESSAGES? Following 2 serious stroke seven years ago my wife lost the use of her left arm (and left leg). Although she is mostly bed-bound ‘this hasn't stopped her from continu ing to be an avid texter and her phone has been the lfeline to her many friends, She is also a tremendous fan of Amazon's Kindle, which can be easily Used one-handed. | am now research- ing tablets to find one for her which isn't too heavy or cumbersome. If were to buy a tablet with 3G would my wife be able to use this to send her ‘text messages? There are various ways to hieve this. The best method depends on the both the tablet and the people with whom your wife lk io sendiand receve text messages For example, ifyour wife exc texts only with peor iPhone hancsets, then any do the joo — and you wan't even need shell out extra for a 3G-enabled model. This 's because from iOS ver 5 which will work even on the er gin iPad), Apple introduced a technology called Message, Fromthe user's perspective this works almost ident!= Sead Or Tee Mar 22, 2013 10,000,000+ downloads 8.00MB 4 239K people +1'¢ this. cally o SMS, but communication is, ppossible only between Apple devices. In ‘ther werds, with Message on an iPad your wife wouldbe able to exchange SSMS -style messages with anyone who ‘owns an Phone, iPod, iPad, iMac or MacBook computer ~ but not to hon Apple mobile phones. It's aso free tosend and receive Messages, However. itis important te under= stand that the 36 radio in the Pad isn't jprovsioned for SMS messaging. In essence this means that, without [albreaking the device. itisn't possible to se the 3G facity to send and recave SMS text mes: will char ony if Apple d able SMS text ‘messaging ini0S on Pads. though we would t hold your breath, When it cames to Android devices, he options are meny, With the 3G/LTE version of Google's Newus 7 tablet (£253, www.snipea.com/s0326). 0" exampe its possible to insert aSIM card enabled for mob le data and text messaging, Your wife would then be able toinstall an app that wil allowher to send and receive proper (SMS) tex messages - Go SMS Pro is one popular free option (gett from the Play store at www.snipea.com/B716), GO SMS Pro eras) WHAT'S NEW 4.77 Update (2013-3-22) ‘The SGLE eats Nan 7cansend tet messages 1. Support enabling Premium Features by Getjar gold ‘99s sudh3s Go SMS Proc yout sedan vaca tts n yur tablet 42 | wuw.compateractive.couk HOW DO! SEARCH CONTACTS BY LOCATION IN WINDOWS PHONE 8? ‘On my Windows Mobile 6.5 handset, could search by location (street name for towns, say). which was handy for finding customers based on where they lived. I don't seem to be able to do this in Windows Phone 75, or in Qutlook 2010. Also, ist possible to increase the data storage for the People app? | have alot of information in Outlook 2010 but it won't al fit on my Windows Phone 75 handset. Has this been Improved with Windows Phone 8? bby anything other than forename or surname in Windows Phone's Pe app. Hewever, there are apps that wll alow you to search on any field, such as People search (939 from www.smipea.com/o206, thoush 2 free tral is avaiable), Itisnt possible to ‘increase the data storage available to the Peoste app — itcan store 2s much information 2s your shone has avalable memory. and no more. However, your handset has 2 memory card sit. then pop a mercy cardinte thisand use it to store bulky media fies thus freeingup the handset's oun storage Final. itis possible to search by any field in Outicok 2010. Gick the address book icon on the Home tab, select the More columns radio button then type your search nto the box botore. es tok 200 proves an easy way to esc contacts TECH QUESTIONS EW PWS aie) PHONES & TABLETS WHY WON'T FREEMAKE INSTALL ON MY ANDROID TABLET? | downloaded Freemake Video Downloader and copied it to my Android (Jelly Bean) tablet, However. for whatever reason it will not instal, De you know why this is? And how can I get rid of the dowmload? ways te delete stuf from an Android tablet. You canhook it up to aPC and browse the folders using Wind! Expirer. fer example or the device's manulacturer may hve included 2 file-management app on the tablet. Otherwise, vist the Google Play store and Theansworto instala free Anarod the first app such as File question is Manager HD Cwwne, Horner snipea.com/98&4) anc ~Freemake Video Use this to.do the job, Downloader ise program for PCs running the Windows operating system, nat Android tablets, So, while your Android tablet game'y iat you downloadthe executable fle it has ro dea what todo with the end resut. There are various Launch the app then Navigate to the Downe SD\Donnicads if your tablet stores down ioads toa memory card. Now tap end hold tn the FreemakeW deoDownioadSetup, exe fe then top Delete followed by OK. Poprogans wortunin noid WHY WON'T MY iPHONE SCREEN ROTATE? | have an iPhone 5 that has worked well for a year Recently, though. Inoticed that the screen no longer rotates. ‘Admittedly this isn't a problem most ‘of the time but if 'm browsing the ‘web with Safari for example. then | have to doitin portrait mode ~ | can't surf in landscape. It's typical that this has happened just after the guarantee expired. Is there any easy way to repair it? (ventatin stogsarein the task sweherini0S 6 We don't think there's anything wrong wth your Phone 5. Instead, we think that youve socidentalyyenab ed the the task switcher then swipe from, left torightto access the media controls. Tap the padicck icon on the vandset's orentation-ieck feature, fart and the padlock will disappear which stops the serean ratatin “along with orientation lock this is useful when reading ebooks, IniQS 2, qpen Control Center by for example). swiping up from the very bottom of ‘Ssimpietofix.theiPhone is the screen, Now tap the padlcck con running OS 6 or ear. then ‘double tap the Home button to open veto ble > wow: computeractiveco.nk | 43 er cre Ultimate Guide WHY DOES MY iPHONE FAILTO BACK UP? ol have an iPhone 5 that. up until recently, used to back up just fine to ‘Tunes on my Windows 7 PC. Now, for whatever reason, whenever I try to back up in this way, a message is displayed that says ‘Tunes could not backup iPhone because the iPhone disconnected: ean assure you that it hasn't been disconnected. Suspecting that my cable might be faulty, | borrowed another from a friend but the problem continued. 'm confident that nothing has changed on the PC (haven't installed anything new in months. ‘other than Windows Updates). 1 do regularly ‘ry new apps on my iPhone but everything on that seers to work just fine. Any ideas? Though we'rent exactly sure why. we'repretly certain that the culprit isan ‘ed Zip: ith iZip installed ‘and Tunes version combinations ‘exect problem. We're guessing, then, that as part of your app ‘experimentation you've recently install Unti such time as this bugis fixed Zip’s developer. the answer is to remove (and then rainstal after backing up, if you want), To de ths, simply tap and hold your finger down on any apc icon unti they all start to wobble and then tap the cross at the Zipicor's top lett. Tap Delete to.contin. tain The Zap has ben krow case pabiems 44 | www.computeractive.co.uk WHERE'S THE ANDROID BROWSER FORWARD BUTTON? When! browse the ‘web on my Android smartphone | sometimes fing ‘myself brushing the Back button - not in the Chrome web browser but on the handset itself. That's fa. irritating. But even more irritating is that Android phones share don't seem tohave a Forward button, and or does the browser. The upshot Request desktops is that Ihave totype all over again. Tell me there's an easier Hep way, * { the same nal recnt operating systems fehou dt eater wwhatphone youre Using st tap the Menu ou stackedcots) and ou sae the Back I) brarom atthe tep Bookmarks other devices rdarron Find in page. Ferwardng back ar fundintbe menu WHY CAN'T |LOG OUT OF GMAIL ON MY NEXUS 7 TABLET? Lrecenty Dt: News? ‘abe, oth which Tver pleased However find that \when | visit the Gmail website i's boutton (three stacked es). Now he top then tapSign fall accounts Nekus 7 much more always logged into secure by creatin my account. and er accounts, Your there appears to be Nexus wil ne be updated to at no way to log out. Is. there amethod that will ot me log aut so I can let other users use my tablet while keeping my emai ‘liow the prompt, Now return to Legg out Grain sraiterwars Users Settings, the Device heading, button, then folaw the version of Gm. whatyoull uy ve viewing on your Nexus 7 sntatal Add Use vious. First, tap the top-left Me selup wiza ‘When setting up my new Apple iPad, | foolishly chose made-up email address as my ‘Apple ID. as | did not realise that 2 proper email address was required. | ‘am now unable to verify my Apple ID, and cannot find out how to change it for my real email address. The instructions on verifying the ID all seem to depend on Apple being able to email ‘me. also have an iPad Mini, and of ‘course the same applies to this. However, Ihave no difficulty in buying apps from the App Store ‘Assuming that you-can IW ‘ererber the possnorduses tosetup your Apple ID. then the ‘made-up emai address isntin fact en impediment te changingthe ID Todo {nis ist vst he My Apple IO wedstieat ‘tps//appleid apple.com 27 o3 in using tne made-up ema address and password, Now cick the Eatlinkinthe ‘Appie ID and Primary Email Address” section type your real email address and My Apple ID What's an Apple ID? HOW DOI CHANGE MY APPLE ID? TECH QUESTIONS NETS PHONES & TABLETS. My Apple i> Signin 9 manage signin your Apple 1. art erry tov foto your passwords-there are ways toreset histo press Enter While you're here, we'd the blue Save Changes button to finish Suggest adding a backup emai address When yu return to your Pads, tap by clicking Add Email Address in the Settings folowed by Store, Serall down Alternate Emall Addresses section. Click to find the Apple ID button that wil currently show your old Appi ID with the made-up amail across). Tap this, then tap Sign ut, Now tap Sign in followed by ‘Use Ex'sting Apple ID: then Fogin using your new Apple ID and password, If you can't remember the password then instead try Apple's Forgot service, ot htps://iforgotapplecom. Type your made-up Apple ID and cickNoxt. At the nextsereen, select the Answer security ‘questions’ radio button and click Next. Now follow the prompts (the questions depend onhow you originally set up your ‘Apple ID, but wil relate toperscnal —ol information). tyou succeed in answering the personal securty wOOe son to ‘questions, then you willbe offeredithe arn ‘oppertunity to change your passwords YYoucan now returnto the My Appie ID website, og in wth the made-up email address and new password and proceed fs explained. Ifyou still have no luck then ‘Apple's own advice is tocallits customer service ine on 0800 048 0408 and explain the stuation, ope roves ey treats ard manage an ats webte > wwu.computeractive.co.nk | 45 eric tae \() Ultimate Guide CAN | GET CALENDAR NOTIFICATIONS ON MY iPAD'S LOCK SCREEN? Is itpossible to get a working calendar to appear on an Apple 'Pad's lock screen? On my previous tower PC I had Datewise, a ‘calendar program that appeared on the Windows Desktop every time I switched fon the power. This was a blessing to remind me to pay bills on specific days. Having bought an iPad, Ino longer use ‘the tower every day. But 'm always using the iPad, and I miss this feature. ‘The current lock screen seems to have litle purpose. and ifitcould be a ‘calendar that | could use it would make ita valuable asset to the iPad, Do you havea solution? You probatiyaready tnowand JN icerstonstistacpecortos ee eee Tet As sucht sitet ery posse tohavea vly functona caer on the Pads ock screen, test out [abrcakhe ie aarse aa ats realy fometnrgufthwtichonly expertusers should dabble 46 | wonw.computeractive.coule However assuming that youriPad is running (OS Scr later, then tis possible tohave calendar notifications displayed on the iock screen, While this isnt quite the same as having instant access to an edtable schedule, enabling the Calendar ‘app te display alerts wilallow you to ‘view reminders of pending events without having fo uniock the Pad First, check that your Pad nasiOS 5 or later. Tap Settings fo lowed by General. you see a Software Update option then your Pad is running atleast 1085, So you're good to proceed with setting up natiications, Otherwise, you'l need to connect the device to a ‘computer running Tunes. When tis connected. Tunes wl offer to update the iPadto the latest avaliable version of OS. vnhen it's connected, so just follow the prompts todo this, Next, setup Calendar app notificat ons. Tap Settings followed by NNatiication Genter then tap Calendar on the right. Swipe the Notiication Center switch tothe On pesttion, select an Alert Style (Banners is a good choice forthe lock screen) and then site tne Show on Lack Screen’ switch toOn, Note that ‘nclude''s currently set t0°5 ters’ ~ we'll refer back to this shortly. Finally. youneedito set up some ‘eventsin the Calendar app. Tap Calender, then tap and hold date or time slot i set an event. Fillinthe relevant detal's andithen tap Alert. Choose when you would tke the alert to ppear (At tinie of event for example) then tap Done.Tep Done auain to save and set the event, Novrlock your iPad in the usual way. Theaiert wll appear on the lock screen at the time just set I'several alerts trigger before you next look at ‘your iPad, then te lock screen wil display their banners too — up tothe maximum set in the Show option ‘mentioned earlier. To ump straight to an event's entry in the Calendar app. just ‘sh pe across the relevant lack-screen banner alert (instead of the'Side to Uniock switch). Once unlocked notifications can be viewed by swiping your fingar down fram the tap of the Sereen ~ this opens the Notifications Center. Ce ‘Set palais appear as ‘micallons anasto thse TECH QUESTIONS EW PWS aie) PHONES & TABLETS. CAN | KEEP YOUTUBE = VIDEOS PLAYING IN THE WHY CAN'T I WATCH SKY+ BACKGROUND ON MY PROGRAMMES ON MY iPAD? iPAD? onthe iPad app, all my recordings used toniavigate the Sky ‘YouTube stops playing. How do I keep playback your Ped,'n going? | haven't upgraded my iPad to the latest Version of 0S as | want to keep the old Google ‘Maps and don't want Apple Maps, are there. but when I tap the progr Watch button. nothing happens. —_etfec Well not cuite nothing -a screen is displayed that shows a page with a load of control gestures, such as ‘tap to play or pause. But when | try these gestures, nothing happens. What am I doing wrong? ‘this Gwwwsnipea, Ibe able to ‘Also. Sky sth jane — but the further £5 per nnateurrenty Extra service, With this you rogrammes you have able to watch loads of other rang in the futuro continues to develop ‘ov YouTube 186 along YouTube oad nothing that while you ube we ie Br Find a video youwant to wa playback in the usual way. When you press t Home button to switch to launch adiferant app pi aa A rh uta at the boltom of the Pad display and swipe a his fromlelt to right to reveal the plays controls. The ian on the right-hand side should be ri indicating that t ed playback controls wil command t lust tap the pl You cn use your Pad asa gant oochsceen rot coil using he Sky app button and the You Tube aud tee twaspaned ™ > woew.computeractive.couk | 47 HOW DO | CHECK MY TABLET DATA USE? Iracety got an HTC Fiver tbe abit ane as am >