The Which? guide to using. Windows 10

Transcription

1 The Whch? gude to usng Wndows 10

2 Welcome Maybe you ve just bought a new laptop, or you ve recently upgraded to Wndows 10. Or perhaps you ve had your computer for a whle but you have the feelng that you re stll not makng the most of t. Whatever your stuaton, ths gude s here to help. We re gong to ntroduce all the essental elements of your Wndows 10 laptop or PC navgatng the desktop, nstallng programs and apps, browsng the web and more and explan how to make your daly computng tasks qucker, easer and more enjoyable. We ll also show you how to keep your data prvate and solve some common Wndows 10 ssues. Ths gude s only ntended as a startng pont, though. If you re a member of Whch? Computng and you want even more tps or solutons to computer problems, vst computng.whch.co.uk. Contents 04 Wndows 10 bascs 06 Loggng n and swtchng user accounts 08 Browsng the web 10 Choosng an offce sute 12 Connectng devces 14 Installng and removng software 16 Changng your prvacy settngs 18 Storng and backng up data 20 Common Wndows 10 fxes 22 Jargon buster Rchard Parrs Edtor, Whch? Computng Mcrosoft, Cortana, Excel, Mcrosoft Edge, Offce, Offce 365, OneDrve, OneNote, PowerPont, Skype and Wndows are ether regstered trademarks or trademarks of Mcrosoft Corporaton n the Unted States and/or other countres. Used wth permsson from Mcrosoft. The Whch? gude to usng Wndows 10 s an ndependent publcaton and s not afflated wth, nor has t been authorsed, sponsored, or otherwse approved by Mcrosoft Corporaton. lthough Whch? Lmted has endeavoured to make every effort to ensure that all steps and advce detaled n ths gude are accurate and up-to-date, ths s not guaranteed. Please note that the software and hardware features referred to can and do change and ths may nvaldate certan steps. ny such changes are beyond the control of Whch? ll mpled warrantes and condtons are excluded to the maxmum extent permtted by law. In partcular, we wll not be responsble for ensurng that the advce gven n ths gude s sutable for your purposes or for any data loss that may be ncurred as a result of followng the advce. Whch? Ltd 2016 The gude may not be reproduced, stored n a retreval system, transmtted n any form or otherwse made avalable to thrd partes wthout the wrtten permsson of Rchard Headland, Edtor of Whch? magazne. Commercal use of the gude s not permtted. 2 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 3

3 Wndows 10 bascs The desktop for your Wndows 10 operatng system s your laptop s man workspace and the frst screen you see after sgnng nto your PC. We show you all the desktop s man functons and features Start menu Clck the Start button n the bottom-left of the screen for the Start menu a scrollng column of tems next to a panel of anmated lve tles. Here, you can fnd and launch applcatons, access settngs and clck shortcuts for frequently used applcatons. The Start menu can be reszed by clckng and draggng the edges of the menu. Start menu apps The rght-hand sde of the Start menu dsplays customsable lve tles, ncludng ones for Weather, Photos and News. pplcatons, such as the Calendar app, Musc app or Mcrosoft Store, appear here. You can add an app by frst fndng t n the ll pps vew, rght-clckng t and then choosng Pn to Start. Tles can be dragged nto new postons and reszed. Turn off anmatons by rght-clckng the desred tle then selectng Turn lve tle off. cton Centre central hub to vew and manage all your system notfcatons, the cton Centre appears as a vertcal panel when you clck the speech bubble con on the rght-hand sde of the taskbar. It provdes quck lnks and cons for common tasks, such as turnng Bluetooth, Flght mode or w-f on or off, and for adjustng screen brghtness. Tablet mode Wndows 10 detects the type of devce you re usng and adjusts tself automatcally. If you re usng a PC or laptop, you ll be n Desktop mode by default, but on a tablet or a hybrd laptop wth the keyboard secton removed you ll see a full-screen mode that s better suted for touch control. You can swtch between modes manually by togglng Tablet mode on and off n the cton Centre. Cortana Cortana s Wndows 10 s voce-actvated assstant that can help you fnd thngs n your computer, check your calendar, open apps, fles and system settngs, or set alarms and remnders. It learns from your searches, so the more you use t, the more personal t can be. If t doesn t know an answer, Cortana wll search onlne. To use Cortana, type nto the search box or speak usng your computer s mcrophone.? Dd you know? Rght-clckng wth your mouse around the Wndows desktop often brngs up handy hdden menus of tools and functons. Try rght-clckng the Start button and the Taskbar for some very useful shortcuts. Task Vew Clck the Task Vew button to see thumbnals of all your open programs and easly swtch between them wthout havng to move wndows around to see thngs. Task Vew also allows you to create and swtch between vrtual desktops separate workspaces where you can keep and organse fles and programs. To add a vrtual desktop, clck the Task Vew button, then clck new desktop. Taskbar Runnng along the base of the screen, the Taskbar remans more or less unchanged from prevous versons of Wndows. You can pn any applcatons you use regularly to t and swtch between open programs by clckng the con you want. Rght-clck cons for a lst of recent fles or web pages opened by the program. Mcrosoft Edge Wndows 10 comes wth a new default web browser called Mcrosoft Edge. Its con on the Taskbar looks a lot lke the old Internet Explorer one. Edge has useful features, ncludng a readng mode that strps away dstractng webpage content such as adverts and sdebars full of lnks, so you can focus on an artcle. See page 8 for more. Fnd out more Whch? members can check our constantly updated ratngs and revews for more than 100 dfferent laptops at whch.co.uk/laptops. 4 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 5

4 Loggng n and swtchng user accounts Fnd out the dfference between loggng nto your computer wth a Mcrosoft account or a local user account, and dscover how to swtch from one to the other Mcrosoft and local accounts compared What s a local account? local account s the tradtonal way to log n to your computer wth a username and an optonal password. local account gves you access to your computer system, programs and fles, all of whch are stored locally on your hard drve. You can nstall software, change settngs and keep your own nformaton separate from other user accounts on the same computer. Choose the dd a user wthout a Mcrosoft account opton when settng up a new account f you want a local one. What s a Mcrosoft account? Wndows 10 users are encouraged to sgn n wth a Mcrosoft emal address and password, nstead of a local account. If you have a Hotmal, Outlook.com or Wndows Lve emal account, or use servces such as Xbox Lve or Wndows Phone, then you ll have a Mcrosoft account already t s the emal address and password you use to sgn nto these servces. If not, you can create one for free, or lnk any emal address that you currently use such as a Gmal account to your Mcrosoft account. What are the benefts of usng a Mcrosoft account? Your Mcrosoft account lnks your PC wth other devces and onlne servces that you use. It syncs your setup when you sgn n wth the same account on other Wndows devces, gvng you the same settngs, browsng hstory, contacts, musc, photos and emals. You also get free onlne storage space on Mcrosoft s OneDrve, where you can store system settngs, photos and other fles. Mcrosoft account lets you download and share apps from the Wndows Store across all your devces. Tp To add a new account for someone else on your PC, clck Start > Settngs > ccounts > Famly & other users, then clck ether dd a famly member or dd someone else to ths PC and follow the remanng steps. What are the pros and cons of usng a local account? Local accounts work only on a sngle computer. If you have other Wndows PCs or devces, you won t be able to sync content or settngs between them. Nor can you download pad-for apps from the Wndows Store. However, a local account provdes a degree of extra prvacy and securty, as you re sharng less nformaton wth Mcrosoft. When you re logged n wth a Mcrosoft account, you provde the company wth detals about your computng habts. If you re not bothered about usng the ntegrated onlne features of Wndows, or use just the one computer, then a local account wll serve you well. Can I use both Mcrosoft and local accounts? Whle t s possble to run both on the same computer, ths could be confusng f they both belong to the same user. That sad, f multple users log onto the same computer, you can easly set thngs up so everyone uses the type of account they prefer. Everyone can have ther own local account, or you can mx and match wth Mcrosoft accounts just as easly. Fnd out more For buyng tps and advce on how to get more from your laptop, head to whch.co.uk/ laptops-gudes. How to swtch between a Mcrosoft and a local account No matter whch account type you ve set up, t s smple to swtch to the other sort, should you later decde to. Here s how: 1 Open the Settngs app Clck Start > Settngs > ccounts, then clck on Your emal and accounts on the left. 2 Swtch accounts If you re currently sgned n wth a local account, clck Sgn n wth a Mcrosoft account nstead, then ether log n wth an exstng Mcrosoft account or, f you don t have one, clck Create one and follow the remanng steps. If you re currently sgned n wth a Mcrosoft account, clck Sgn n wth a local account nstead, then enter your current password and follow the nstructons. Swtchng from your Mcrosoft account wll swtch off certan Wndows features. 6 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 7

5 Browsng the web Back/forward These navgaton arrows let you go backwards and forwards through the webpages you ve vsted, much lke flckng through the pages of a book. Home button Ths takes you to the frst webpage that you see when you open your web browser. Ths s usually set to a default page, but can be easly changed. Refresh Clckng ths reloads a webpage, showng any updates that may have occurred. It can also be used to reload a page that ddn t load correctly n the frst place. Search Some browsers have a separate search bar, but most let you search wthn the address bar, as shown here. You can search for webpages by typng n words or phrases here. Tabs Lets you vew multple webpages at once. Clck here to open a new tab or press Ctrl+T. Mcrosoft Edge s the new web browser that comes wth all Wndows 10 PCs http/https Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http) s the technology that makes vewng webpages possble. ll webpages start wth ether http or https. The addton of an s means the webpage has extra securty look for ths when you re shoppng onlne and need to enter payment card detals to complete your purchase. ddress bar Shows the URL of the webpage. To vst a dfferent webpage, type the address here and then press Enter. Content area The current webpage that you re on flls the wndow. Readng vew Clck the book con to actvate readng vew. Ths removes ads, banners and busy elements, makng t easer to read the content of a webpage. Lst of bookmarks Clck the Hub button and then the star con to see a lst of your bookmarked webpages. Clck on one to open t n the man wndow. uck bookmark Clck the star con to bookmark the webpage that you re currently on. Hub Ths gves you access to your Favourtes, Readng Lst, browsng Hstory and Downloads. More actons Shows you a menu of handy optons, ncludng prvate browsng and zoom buttons to make a webpage easer to read. Settngs In Mcrosoft Edge, ths s found at the bottom of the More actons menu. Here, you ll fnd dsplay and prvacy optons. Downloads Clck the Hub button and then the down arrow to see a lst of all the fles you ve recently downloaded. Clck on a fle to open t or the cross to remove the fle from the Downloads area. Hstory Clck the Hub button and then the clockface wth a backwards arrow to see a lst of the webpages you ve already vsted. Clck any entry to revst t. 8 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 9

6 Choosng an offce sute Mcrosoft Offce s the best-known offce software, but there are other alternatves to consder, some of whch are free. We explan your optons What s an offce sute? n offce sute s a collecton of programs that allows you to create, vew and edt dfferent types of documents, such as letters, reports, spreadsheets and presentatons. Mcrosoft Offce what are my optons? Mcrosoft Offce (products.offce.com) and the programs t contans ncludng Word, Excel, PowerPont are wdely used n both homes and offces worldwde. Offce sn t free and there are several dfferent versons to choose from, dependng on the tools you need and the way you want to pay. Here are the man ones: Offce Home & Student 2016 Unlke Offce 365 (rght), whch requres ongong subscrpton costs, Offce Home & Student 2016 can be purchased wth a one-off payment of 120. It s the most basc verson of Offce avalable and comes wth four applcatons: Word 2016, Excel 2016, PowerPont 2016 and OneNote You can only nstall t on one PC. Offce 365 Personal The cheapest of Mcrosoft s subscrpton optons costs 60 per year (or 6 per month) and ncludes the latest versons of Word, Excel, PowerPont, OneNote, Outlook, Publsher, and ccess, along wth 1TB of cloud storage space wth OneDrve and 60 mnutes of Skype calls a month. You can nstall t on one PC (or Mac) and one tablet or smartphone. Offce 365 Home Ths prcer subscrpton plan ( 80 per year or 8 per month) s amed at famles wth multple devces. You can nstall t on up to fve PCs or Macs as well as fve tablets or smartphones and t comes wth 1TB of cloud storage and 60 mnutes of Skype calls a month for up to fve users. Ths comes wth the latest versons of Word, Excel, PowerPont, OneNote, Outlook, Publsher and ccess. It also ncludes access to new upgrades, so you ll get the most up-to-date versons of the software as soon as they are avalable. What are the alternatves? There are several free alternatves to Mcrosoft Offce that allow you to create and edt word processng documents, spreadsheets, presentatons and more, wthout payng anythng at all. There are two types to consder: software packages that you dowload and nstall on your computer (see our frst two tps below); and onlne servces that you must connect to the nternet to use (our last two suggestons). pache OpenOffce openoffce.org OpenOffce contans equvalents for almost all of Mcrosoft Offce s key programs, ncludng Wrter (a word processor), Calc (a spreadsheet program) and Impress (a presentaton tool). It doesn t have all the latest features, but t s easy to use. Its programs look and feel very smlar to earler versons of Mcrosoft s tools. LbreOffce lbreoffce.org Lke OpenOffce, LbreOffce comes wth a selecton of famlar-feelng programs, ncludng Wrter, Calc and Impress. The nterface feels a lttle fresher than OpenOffce s and there are a few extra features, but the two sutes work n a smlar way. The man dfference s that LbreOffce s more regularly kept up-to-date. Google Drve drve.google.com Google s smple, yet effectve free offce sute works entrely onlne. Just go to the address above n your web browser and sgn n wth a Google account to open exstng documents or create new Google Docs (word processng), Sheets (spreadsheet) or Sldes (presentaton) documents. Documents are stored onlne but you can download, emal or prnt them as normal. Mcrosoft Offce onlne apps onedrve.lve.com If you have a Mcrosoft account (see page 6), you can log n at the address above and access free onlne versons of Word, Excel, PowerPont and OneNote by clckng New. Lke Google Drve, these apps work wthn your browser. Whle they are by no means as feature-packed as the full versons, they work n the same way and provde many of the same core tools.? Dd you know? Your PC comes wth a basc word processor bult-n (clck Start > ll apps > Wndows ccessores > WordPad). lthough lmted, t can be used to create smple documents and letters. 10 whch.co.uk Prces correct as of July 2016 whch.co.uk 11

7 Connectng devces Fnd out how to connect a wreless prnter to your computer and solve common USB connecton problems How to connect a wreless prnter Most modern prnters have w-f bult-n, meanng you can prnt easly wthout wres from your laptop, PC, tablet or smartphone. But before you can start prntng, you must frst connect the prnter to your home network. Connect to a wreless network Prnters wth colour screens usually dsplay step-by-step nstructons for settng up the wreless connecton when you frst turn on the machne. If you don t set up the wreless connecton durng the start-up process you can set t up later. Look for the wreless setup wzard wthn the wreless settngs or networkng optons n the prnter s menu. There s more than one way of connectng to a wreless network, and you may be offered a few dfferent optons for settng up the connecton: Use the WPS parng button If your prnter and router are both compatble wth Wreless Protected Setup (WPS) ths should be an opton n the prnter s network menu. If so, when prompted, press the WPS parng button on your router and the correspondng button on the prnter. W-f uto-connect Many prnters offer ths feature, whch you can use f the computer s already set up on your w-f network. Select W-f uto-connect (ths may have a dfferent but smlar name, dependng on your model) and the prnter wll scan the network that your computer s connected to and use ths nformaton to connect tself. Connectng usng a network key or PIN The manual way of connectng a wreless prnter s to enter your router s wreless network key a seres of numbers and letters nto the prnter durng setup. The network key s the same one you use to connect other wreless devces, such as phones and tablets, and can usually be found on a label on the router, or n the documentaton that came wth the devce. Troubleshoot USB problems The most common way to connect devces such as prnters, dgtal cameras and external hard drves to your computer s va a unversal seral bus (USB) connecton. USB devces are desgned to just plug straght n and work wthout needng any confguraton. Sometmes, however, USB devces don t work as expected. Here s what you can do to fx ths: USB devce s not workng If your computer s havng problems wth a recently nstalled devce, run the Hardware and Devce troubleshooter to see f t can automatcally fx the problem. Clck Start, and type troubleshootng. From the lst of results, clck Troubleshootng. In the Hardware and Sound secton, clck Confgure a devce. Follow the nstructons on screen to see f that solves the problem. Mssng devce drver ll USB devces need a drver a small pece of software that allows t to communcate wth your computer. In most cases, when you plug n a USB devce, Wndows wll automatcally fnd and nstall the latest devce drver. If that s not possble, you ll need to nstall t manually. 1 2 Tp Some new laptops come wth fast USB 3.0 ports, but f an older USB devce doesn t work properly when plugged nto a USB 3.0 port, try connectng t to a USB 2.0 port nstead. Updated drvers are often downloaded through Wndows Update. Clck Start, type update, then clck Check for updates. If you can t fnd a drver through Wndows Update, then vst the support or download secton of the manufacturer s webste to obtan the latest verson. Fx USB port problems lthough a rare event, USB ports can become defectve. Try connectng the devce to another USB port on your computer and unplug all other devces to ensure the devce you want to use can draw the maxmum amount of power through the USB port. Fnd out more Whch? tests and revews dozens of prnters every year. To fnd out whch ones are Best Buys, Whch? members can vst whch.co.uk/prnters. 12 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 13

8 Installng and removng software Get new apps, keep software up to date and unnstall anythng you no longer need Programs vs apps Wndows 10 lets you nstall and run two dfferent types of software: programs and apps. Most people wll be famlar wth the way that programs work. You buy them from a shop or download them from the web and nstall them by runnng the setup process from dsc or the downloaded fle. pps work dfferently. These are smaller, more focussed tools that are often desgned to be used on touchscreen devces such as tablets as well as PCs. pps are usually smpler and easer to use than full-blown programs. Wndows 10 comes wth a number of apps pre-nstalled, ncludng Mal, Maps, News and Weather. But you can nstall more apps and games through the Wndows Store, tself an app. Some apps cost money, whle others are free. Bloatware Your PC or laptop may have come wth a number of addtonal programs and apps nstalled by the manufacturer lke meda players, securty trals and other tools some of whch are more welcome than others. The term bloatware s often used to descrbe prenstalled software that you don t really need. s a general rule, t s a good dea to try and keep your computer free of unwanted software. s well as takng up space on your hard drve, havng too many programs and apps nstalled can have a detrmental effect on your machne s performance. Ths s because many applcatons automatcally launch themselves whenever you start Wndows, whch can make your computer slower to start up. Others run n the background all the tme, usng up valuable memory and processng power. Thankfully t s easy to get rd of programs and apps you don t need. How to unnstall unwanted software The process of removng software from your computer dffers, dependng on whether you re unnstallng a program or an app. Unnstall a program 1 2 Open Programs and Features Rght-clck Start and select Programs and Features from the menu. Locate the program In the wndow that opens, scroll through the lst of nstalled programs to fnd the one you want to remove. 3 Unnstall the program Clck the program to hghlght t, then clck the Unnstall or Unnstall/Change button n the top toolbar. Follow any remanng onscreen nstructons to fnsh off the process. Unnstall an app 1 2 Open ll apps Clck Start > ll apps. Locate the program Scroll through the lst to fnd the app you want to remove. 3? Dd you know? You don t have to use the browser that came wth your PC. To swtch to a dfferent one, lke Chrome or Frefox, download and nstall t, then go to Start > Settngs > System > Default apps. Clck the entry below Web browser and pck your browser from the pop-up menu. Unnstall the program Rght-clck the app and select Unnstall > Unnstall. You can renstall your apps at any tme from the Wndows Store app by clckng your account con, then My lbrary. Updatng apps and programs Software makers often update ther programs and apps to make them safer, fx problems and add new features. It s good practce to try and keep your software up-to-date. Many programs have a settng (often enabled by default) that checks for avalable updates whenever you start your computer, or runs the program tself and prompts you to download and nstall them. Others may provde an opton to manually check for updates va the Help or Optons menu. pps are easer to update. In fact, Wndows 10 s set to update them automatcally by default. To check that automatc updates are swtched on, open the Wndows Store app, then clck on your account con at the top of the wndow and select Settngs. If Update apps automatcally s turned off, clck the swtch to turn t on. News Fnd out more Stay aware of scams and fnd all the latest tech tps by vstng our Technology blog at whch.co.uk/technology. 14 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 15

9 Changng your prvacy settngs If you re worred about prvacy, t s easy to control how much nformaton you share n Wndows 10 by changng a few settngs 1 Locaton By default, Wndows 10 keeps track of your locaton so that you can receve nformaton and servces based on wherever you happen to be at the tme, such as map drectons, bus routes, restaurants and so on. What can I do about t? Head to Start > Settngs > Prvacy > Locaton. t the top, clck Change > Off to completely dsable Locaton for anyone else who logs nto the computer. lternatvely, to swtch off Locaton for just your own account, swtch the Locaton swtch below to Off. You can also wpe your locaton hstory clck the Clear button under Clear hstory on ths devce. If you re happy to let Wndows know your locaton, but want control over whch apps have access to ths nformaton, use the swtches next to each app n the Choose apps that can use your locaton secton underneath. 2 Feedback and usage data Mcrosoft tres to mprove Wndows by collectng data about your computer and the way you use t. Ths helps the company understand how to serve ts users better and dentfy problems people are encounterng. What can I do about t? Clck Start > Settngs > Prvacy > Feedback & dagnostcs. If you d rather not be hassled by Wndows requests for feedback, select Never from the Wndows should ask for my feedback drop-down menu. You can t turn off Dagnostc and usage data altogether, but f you re concerned, you can lmt the amount of nformaton sent to Mcrosoft by selectng Basc from the lst. 3 Camera and mcrophone By default, apps can access your PC s camera and mcrophone. For example, Skype uses the camera and mcrophone for voce and vdeo calls. But malcous apps could use ths permsson to lsten n or record vdeo of you. What can I do about t? You can dsable camera and mcrophone access altogether by clckng Start > Settngs > Prvacy > Camera or Mcrophone and swtchng the man settng to Off. However, ths wll stop many useful apps, such as Skype, from workng correctly. So leave ths settng On, and use the swtches underneath to allow or dsallow specfc apps. 4 What you type By default, Wndows 10 records what you type. Mcrosoft clams that t collects your typed and handwrtten words to mprove character recognton and provde you wth a personalsed user dctonary and text completon suggestons. What can I do about t? Though Mcrosoft s ntentons appear bengn, you may not feel comfortable wth havng every keystroke sent to the company for analyss. Thankfully, ths feature s optonal. To turn t off, clck Start > Settngs > Prvacy > General and set Send Mcrosoft nfo about how I wrte to help us mprove typng and wrtng n the future to Off. 5 Wndows Update Wndows 10 shares updates you ve downloaded wth complete strangers computers va the nternet. No personal data s ever exchanged wth other PCs but, wth ths settng enabled (t s swtched on by default), you may fnd your nternet speeds are slghtly reduced. Uploads could potentally nudge you over your monthly broadband allowance too. What can I do about t? Clck Start > Settngs > Update & securty > dvanced. On the followng screen, clck Choose how updates are delvered then, on the next screen, swtch ths feature off. Fnd out more For more expert tps and advce about choosng the best nternet securty software, vst our webste at whch.co.uk/ antvrus-advce. 16 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 17

10 Storng and backng up data There are pros and cons to storng fles on your computer compared to keepng them n the cloud, but here s how to back up all your valuable data Storng fles locally Local storage means fles are physcally stored on your computer s hard drve. Wndows 10 comes wth bult-n cloud storage (see rght) but you can stll store fles locally or use a mx of the two. PROS Keepng your fles on your computer should feel famlar, as t s the way most of us have always stored our fles. Fles that are stored locally are always avalable you won t need an nternet connecton to retreve them. Most modern PCs and laptops have large bult-n hard drves that offer plenty of storage space. It s easy and cheap to add an external drve, too. CONS If your PC s hard drve fals and you haven t made a recent backup you could lose lots of precous documents, photos and other essental fles. Backng up locally requres a degree of set-up and management on your behalf. If your external backup drve s kept n your home, t can be stolen, lost or damaged along wth your orgnals. If you want to move a locally stored fle from your PC to another devce a second PC, tablet or smartphone, for example then you ll need to physcally transfer t or emal t to yourself. Keep fles n the cloud wth OneDrve OneDrve s Mcrosoft s onlne cloud storage system, where your fles are stored securely onlne t s ntegrated nto Wndows 10. PROS Fles on your PC (n the OneDrve folder) and ther equvalents n the cloud are automatcally updated (synced) whenever you make any changes. You can sgn nto any Wndows 10 computer Tp Even f you decde to keep your fles stored on your PC, leave OneDrve swtched on. It s very handy for backng up your mportant fles to the cloud now and then. For example, your travel documents when you go on holday. wth your Mcrosoft account, log n va a web browser, or use the OneDrve phone or tablet app to get your documents, musc and pctures wherever you are. If your computer should ever be damaged or stolen, you ll be able to retreve fles you ve stored n the cloud. Cloud storage s more relable than local storage and therefore much less prone to data loss. Log n at onedrve.lve.com and you can edt any of the documents that you ve stored onlne usng free web app versons of Word and Excel. CONS You need an nternet connecton n order to sync your fles a fast one f you re plannng to sync lots of large fles. OneDrve s free allocaton s only 5GB. You can get 1TB of OneDrve space f you have an Offce 365 subscrpton (from 60 per year see page 10), or you can pay for more storage ( 1.99 per month for 100GB of space). Back up your data Wherever you store your fles, you should make your own backup too. Wndows 10 provdes a bult-n tool, Fle Hstory, for backng up to an external hard drve. 1 Open Fle Hstory Plug an external hard drve nto a USB port on your PC. Next, clck Start, type fle hstory and clck the Fle Hstory Settngs lnk that appears. Select the hard drve 2 Clck dd a drve. Fle Hstory wll look for a sutable storage locaton. Select the external drve you plugged n. Make sure utomatcally back up my fles s swtched on, then clck More optons. Schedule backups 3 You can alter how frequently your fles are backed up (the default s every hour) and choose to add or exclude specfc folders. Once you re set up, just leave your drve plugged n and your fles wll be backed up automatcally. Fnd out more s well as Mcrosoft s OneDrve, there are plenty of other cloud storage tools avalable, wth a range of dfferent prces and storage lmts to choose from. See whch.co.uk/cloud-storage-servce for advce on choosng the rght servce for your needs. 18 whch.co.uk Prces correct as of July 2016 whch.co.uk 19

11 Common Wndows 10 fxes Havng trouble wth your PC? Here our experts from the Computng Helpdesk answer some of your Wndows 10 questons News Some webpages don t dsplay properly n Mcrosoft Edge s there a fx? Mcrosoft Edge s a relatvely new web browser and, as such, t stll has a few bugs and qurks. These wll get fxed as tme goes on, but f you re encounterng ssues wth a partcular webpage, a smple soluton s to swtch back to Internet Explorer temporarly. To do ths from wthn Edge, clck the menu button (three dots) on the top-rght, then select Open wth Internet Explorer. I can t prnt anythng and there s no sound! f you re sufferng from hardware problems, rght-clck Start and select Devce Manager. Next, clck the relevant hardware category (Prnters or Sound, Vdeo or Games controllers, for nstance). Rght-clck on the devce that s not workng and select Update Drver Software. On the next screen, select Search automatcally for updated drver software. Wndows wll search for the drver and nstall t, then restart. If that doesn t work, rght-clck the devce n Devce Manager > select Unnstall > OK. If t s a prnter, connect t to your PC and restart your computer. Ths wll renstall the drver, whch may fx the problem. You could also vst the manufacturer s webste to download updated drvers. Why s my laptop s touchpad not workng properly? If your touchpad sn t workng at all after upgradng to Wndows 10, you ll need to plug n a USB mouse temporarly to try to fx thngs. Then, clck Start > Settngs > Devces > Mouse & touchpad. Scroll down and clck ddtonal mouse optons. In the wndow that opens, clck the tab for your touchpad (ths s sometmes called Devce Settngs) and see f your touchpad s shown as enabled. If not, clck the Enable button > OK. If ths doesn t solve the problem, you should vst the webste of your laptop manufacturer to download and nstall the latest drvers and software for your touchpad. Fnd out more If you re a Whch? Computng member and have a computer, tablet or smartphone problem, try vstng the Whch? Computng Helpdesk at computng.whch.co.uk and clckng on the category that you need. Why won t my program run properly? If you have recently upgraded to Wndows 10, you may fnd that some older programs that worked n prevous versons of Wndows may not work properly or at all under the latest operatng system. You could check your program maker s webste to see f there s a free update avalable that wll make the tool compatble wth Wndows 10. If not, clck Start, type troubleshoot, then clck the Troubleshootng control panel lnk that appears at the top of the menu. In the wndow that opens, clck Run programs made for prevous versons of Wndows and follow the steps to try and fx any software compatblty ssues automatcally.? Dd you know? We test over 260 set crtera to ensure that each laptop we test s measured equally. Vst whch.co.uk/test-laptops for more nformaton. 20 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 21

12 Jargon buster Techncal terms explaned n plan Englsh ntvrus software Scans for vruses and removes them from your computer. pp Short for applcaton a type of smple program, manly used on touch-screen devces, whch s nstalled through an app store and tends to be cheap or free. Bloatware Unwanted software wth unnecessary features that uses large amounts of memory. Bluetooth type of shortrange, wreless connecton. Broadband Hgh-speed access to the nternet. Byte measurement of data storage. 1,024 bytes make up a klobyte, 1,024 klobytes a megabyte, 1,024 megabytes a ggabyte and 1,024 ggabytes make up a terabyte. Cloud storage Lets you back up and store your fles onlne. Cortana Mcrosoft s dgtal assstant program. You can ether use voce commands or type a queston n the search box. Drver Software that enables your computer to communcate effectvely wth another devce, such as a prnter or webcam. GB (ggabyte) measurement of data storage (see Byte). Hard drve The man bult-n storage space used by your computer to store programs and data. Hardware The physcal parts of your computng equpment. For example, the montor or the keyboard. MB (megabyte) measurement of data storage (see Byte). OneDrve Mcrosoft s onlne cloud storage servce (see Cloud storage). Operatng system The software that manages your computer, such as Wndows 10. Ports The sockets on a laptop used for connectng other devces. Router Drects data traffc between devces on a network and enables your PC to connect to the web. Synchronse (syncng) When usng a syncng tool lke cloud storage, any changes you make to a synced fle wll be updated n the cloud and wll appear when you access the fle from any other devce. TB (terabyte) measurement of data storage (see Byte). terabyte s a partcularly large amount of storage space for your fles and data. Touchpad (also trackpad) Used to gve fngertp control over the cursor on the laptop s screen. Unversal Seral Bus (USB) standard connecton type used to connect external devces to a computer. Vrus malevolent program that can spread from computer to computer va an nfected program or document. W-f wreless, hghspeed networkng system that can transfer data at hgh-speeds across lots of dfferent devces. 22 whch.co.uk whch.co.uk 23