OneDrive, or SkyDrive as it used to be called, is Microsoft’s online cloud storage facility and it is very useful for storing documents, photos, work files and so on, especially if you use multiple computers and/or devices. Have you found that certain backup software can run into problems when you are backing up the disk… Read More
There are tens of millions of websites on the internet, but how do you discover them? Many people know the popular sites for news, sport, their favourite hobby or interest and so on, but obviously these are not the only sites that cover these topics and there must be many more alternatives. There may be… Read More
Windows already has a firewall, so why would you need another one? That’s a bit like saying Windows comes with Paint, so why get a photo editor, or it already has WordPad, a word processor, so why bother with Word? Windows Firewall is simply very basic and there are far better alternatives that are much… Read More
If you are experiencing problems accessing the Windows 8 Store using the Store tile, if you cannot update Windows 8 apps, or if Windows 8 live tiles don’t update on the Start screen, here is a collection of possible solutions. Most people don’t have problems with the Windows Store, Windows 8 apps and live tiles,… Read More
Computers work with IP addresses rather than the names and URLs that people use. Your computer has an IP address, your router has an IP address, a NAS (network attached storage) drive has an IP address, even wireless printers have IP addresses. How do you find out the IP addresses of devices when you need… Read More
Windows Live Mail is a reasonably good email client that can be used for standard POP3 mail or online webmail like Gmail, Outlook.com and Yahoo! Mail. If you are used to Outlook Express running on XP, it makes sense to switch to Windows Live Mail when you upgrade. It has lots of useful features, such… Read More
Sometimes you want to know the minute a website or web page changes and it could be because of a breaking news story, concert tickets for your favourite artist going on sale, a new job listing you have been waiting for, and so on. Having to visit the site in a browser every few minutes… Read More
Create a new document or file in an application in Windows 8, then go to the Save facility and you might find that it always defaults to the same location - OneDrive. It might be irritating if you don’t want to use that location and it is possible to turn off this feature. Not all… Read More
Microsoft Office is the standard when it comes to word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. It is used in millions of offices around the world and the file format has become a standard way to exchange documents. It runs on Windows and Apple Mac OS X, but sadly not Linux. However, there is a way to… Read More
Some web pages are so cluttered that it is hard to read the actual content. There are menu bars, banner and skyscraper adverts, sharing buttons, links to other pages, comments and more. To make matters worse, many page elements trigger effects as the mouse moves over them, such as pop-ups, pull-downs and slide-outs. Readability, a… Read More
Do you use sticky notes or Sticky Notes? The first kind are those paper notes with a sticky strip at the top that you can stick to your monitor, desk, fridge door and other places. The second kind is the computer version in Windows that lets you create and stick notes to the desktop. You… Read More
Adding a file attachment to an email is very easy and there is always a menu option or toolbar button to select a file on disk. Some email programs even support drag and drop. It all goes horribly wrong if you try to attach an executable program though. You cannot send someone a utility program… Read More
Is your webcam wonky? A problem that some people have is that when they take a photo using their webcam the resulting image is flipped. What can be causing this strange behaviour and how can it be fixed? Is it a hardware or a software problem? The answer is simpler than you might imagine. This… Read More
When opening an Explorer window you sometimes have to wait while a green bar very slowly works its way across the address box at the top. This can happen occasionally to everyone, but to some people it is a constant irritation. What is going on and how can it be stopped? The green bar is… Read More
It is easy to install software and try it out, so why isn’t it just as easy to uninstall software? Uninstallers rarely perform a complete removal of software and there are often files and folders remaining, registry entries and so on. It really shouldn’t be that hard. If you have Office 2013 or Office 365… Read More
The Start screen in Windows can be customised to a certain degree, but what about the tiles? Do you like the icon on them? Do you like the colours they use? Would you like a different icon and colour scheme? It is possible, although with limitations, but it is not obvious how you might do… Read More
The charms bar in Windows 8 is that panel of icons that keeps on popping up on the right hand side of the screen. It can easily be triggered accidentally and it can be very irritating when you do this. How do you get rid of it?
A desktop email program has not been supplied with Windows since Vista and neither 7 nor 8 has ever had one. Many users that have kept up with Microsoft’s operating system have already sorted out their email requirements, but with the end of support for XP a lot of users of that old OS are… Read More
The Pictures folder or library in Windows is ideal for storing photos and you can organise them into subfolders by date, occasion or whatever is most useful. How do you view the most recently added photos though? It is easier than you might think. This tip will work in Windows 7 and 8, but Windows… Read More
Google Keep is a note taking app that can be accessed in a browser on the web, or using an app on your phone or tablet, and it works everywhere. It is a convenient place to store text, images, lists and other items. It can now turn images into editable text using OCR (optical character… Read More