Table of contents for September 2019 in Windows Help & Advice

The internet has revolutionised genealogy. What used to be the dusty preserve of those willing to put in long hours (and travel long distances) is now open to anyone with a PC and internet connection. Reconnecting with your ancestors has never been easier, and the rewards of discovering where you came from and how your forebears used to live are immense. In this comprehensive feature, we’ll put you on the road to discovering your own family history. We’ll start by equipping you with a brilliant free program called RootsMagic Essentials, plus reveal how to use it to start recording your tree using the information you already know. Then we’ll introduce you to free online resources where you can start to track down names, dates and other facts required to extend…

1 Enter basic information When you create a new person, you ll be prompted to enter their basic details: name, gender, plus birth and – if applicable – death and burial information (be sure to untick the Living box if this is the case). Leave any unknown information blank, and finish by clicking OK. 2 Add new facts A person’s life is made up of facts (sometimes referred to as ‘events’) – you’ll see the birth, death and burial details already entered constitute individual facts. Click the ‘Add a fact’ button to add a new event. Pick your fact type from the list and click Select. 3 Edit fact details A new blank fact will appear in the list, selected. You’ll see boxes on the right where you can fill…

1 Match person Once your first person is matched (see main text), click their blue FamilySearch icon. The FamilySearch Person Tools dialogue will reopen to the ‘Share data’ tab. Your RootsMagic data is listed in the left-hand pane, information on FamilySearch is on the right. 2 Swap data Compare the info in both panes – to download information from FamilySearch click the tick box next to an item in the right-hand pane. A new window will open – choose to add a new fact, remove from FamilySearch or replace an existing fact in your tree. Review and click OK. 3 Family members Scroll down to the Family Members section where you’ll see potential matches between FamilySearch and the people in your tree. Click the FamilySearch icon next to a person’s…

Your family tree is up and running, you’ve exhausted FamilySearch’s record sets and started making use of paid-for websites like Ancestry, Find My Past and MyHeritage. RootsMagic’s built-in web hints feature helps you track down potential records by searching each site for records potentially matching each person in your tree, then providing you with a convenient means of reviewing these matches. Hints are provided for all four websites mentioned, with results from Find My Past and MyHeritage automatically listed when you switch the feature on under Tools > File Options > Webhints. If you want to use Ancestry’s record-matching feature, you’ll need to perform some additional steps as outlined in the step-by-step guide. After you’ve performed these steps, close RootsMagic and visit www.ancestry.co.uk in your browser. Log into your account…

1 Tool Options Once you choose a tool from the toolbar on the left-hand side, all sorts of options appear in the Tool Options panel at the bottom of the interface. If it’s not there, there’s a large button at the bottom left to show it. You’ll find all sorts of time-savers here, such as variations on the tool, sliders to re-size brush heads, and buttons to go directly to useful tools, such as Refine Edge. 2 Auto select The Auto Select tool nestles in Tool Options when you’ve got one of the other Quick Selection tools open. It looks, to us, more like a magic wand than the Magic Wand tool: a rod with stars coming out of it. Use it to drag a box around the…

1 Start snipping When you launch Snip & Sketch for the first time you’ll see this helpful intro screen, with the New button highlighted and annotated with a tooltip. Unless you want to take a picture of your desktop, the first thing you’ll need to do is have something ready to snip open in the appropriate app: the whole point of the Snip & Sketch tool is that it captures what’s on the screen of your PC. 2 Choose your format Clicking on New Snip doesn’t immediately take a screenshot. First you need to decide whether to take a picture immediately or to wait three or 10 seconds. This delay is useful if you want to take a picture of something fleeting, such as an app’s pop-up menu.…

1 Clear your workspace Left-click and hold on the title bar of the window you want to work in, then shake the mouse left and right while holding the button down. Every other window on your screen will minimise neatly to the Taskbar, giving you some space to think. To minimise everything, click the unlabelled button at the far right of the Taskbar, or hover your mouse over it for a temporary effect. 2 Use keyboard shortcuts One of the fastest ways to navigate Windows is with the keyboard. A shortcut can open a window or setting that would take three or more clicks of the mouse. Some of the best include [Win] + [E], which opens a new File Explorer window, [Win] + [I] to open Settings,…

1. Main Toolbar Where your primary tools are kept, such as Selection, Time Shift, Zoom, and Envelope. 2. Track Controls Tools for muting, soloing tracks, and changing the gain and the pan. This is where you can really shape your soundscape. 3. Track Menu Provides a bundle of more advanced controls, such as mono-to-stereo conversion, as well as renaming and moving tracks. 4. Collapse Button This squishes up any track into a kind of sliver, which then can be expanded later. 5. Zoom Controls Dedicated buttons for specific zoom functions, including zooming in to a selected portion of a wave, or zooming out 100 percent. 6. Recording Options Choose which audio system to use, which device to record from, mono or stereo, and change the playback device.…

We like open source; it might not always produce the most polished-looking software – [cough] GIMP [cough] – but for security software, its publicly scrutinisable code tends to provide peace of mind, while largely ensuring a project can continue even if the original organisation or developer packs up their bags, as the source code stays open to be picked up by someone else. We’re going to highlight two strong open-source candidates. The first is the well-known KeePass.info. Don’t confuse this with the largely defunct KeePassX.org that hasn’t been updated for two years. There is a fork called KeePassXC.org, which is up to date, but we’ll stick with KeePass as it has many unofficial respins for Android and other devices that make it easier to use. KeePass isn’t as straightforward to use…

The Windows 10 Start menu is a finely honed thing by now. After the fullscreen experience of Windows 8, Microsoft changed it into something really useful, from where you could access apps, settings and more at a click, tap, or with a few taps on the keyboard. But there’s more to it than meets the eye: not only can it be personalised so it looks just the way you want it to, but there’s a ‘secret’ second menu in there too.…

1 Windows 10 Head to www.microsoft.com/ software-download/windows10 and click ‘Download tool now’. Once downloaded, open MediaCreationTool. exe. When prompted, select ‘Create installation media’ and follow the prompts to create either a USB flash drive or an ISO file (for burning to DVD). 2 Windows 8.1 Download the Media Creation Tool from www.microsoft.com/ software-download/windows8 – input your language, edition of Windows 8.1 and PC architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) and then click Next. Choose to create either a USB flash drive or an ISO file and then follow the prompts to the end. 3 Windows 7 Go to www.microsoft.com/ software-download/windows7 and enter your product key – choose a 32-bit or 64-bit version as required. Once downloaded, double-click the file to burn to DVD, or use the Windows USB Download…

1 Reboot for media If you’re running Windows 7, or have Fast Boot disabled, insert your boot media and start your PC. Look for a ‘Press any key to boot from CD or DVD’ option (even if you’ve booted from a USB flash drive) – press the key and you should find the Windows install process starts. 2 Tweak boot options If you boot back into Windows, restart your PC again, but this time press a key, such as [F11], when prompted to open a boot menu. Do so, select your boot media (choose UEFI if the option appears) to boot; otherwise, enter Setup to change the boot device order. 3 Windows 8.1/10 If Fast Boot is enabled, open Settings in Windows and navigate to ‘Update &…

£230 | $300 www.hp.com HP’s latest four-in-one laser printer is not only the smallest, but also one of the most affordable in its category, which is great news for anyone working from home or a small office who needs all the functionality of a business-oriented device. The 18ppm print speed is fairly fast, and the 150-page paper capacity makes it suitable for a small workgroup. It comes with security features that suit a shared office environment, and compatibility with Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud Print. The HP Color Laser MFP 179fnw is the flagship model in HP’s MPF 170 series, and costs around £229 (about US$290, AU$414). If you don’t need the 40-sheet automatic document feeder or a fax, then the HP Color Laser MFP 178nw at around £209 (about…

£150 | $190 www.sony.co.uk There are so many Bluetooth speakers available these days that many are nearly identical and most features that used to be novel barely feel exclusive any more. But that’s not the case for Sony’s XB32. It may not be reinventing the wheel by adding some extra oomph to the low-end and tacking on a neat LED light show, but those features do help it stand out in what’s becoming an increasingly crowded field. Weighing about 2 lbs (0.9 kg), the SRS-XB32 has some weight and heft to it. It’s not the kind of speaker that you can slip into a pocket, but it’s light enough to throw into a bag and go anywhere from there. Better, however, is that, with an IP67 rating, it’s close to…

EE, Vodafone and Three have launched their 5G networks, and O2 is due to join them by the end of 2019. It’s a small rollout for now, consisting of limited coverage in a limited number of cities, with different networks covering different areas. That’ll be the case for some time, as 5G requires new masts, and more of them – full coverage may mean masts that go street by street, because the speed of 5G (which can be, in ideal circumstances, some four to five times the speed of the fastest home broadband connection available today) comes from its use of high-frequency radio waves that have a naturally short range. That is, at least for some people, something of a problem. Concerns are being raised over the safety of 5G’s…

4 The number of GPUs Intel appears to be readying for market. Little is known about the new Gen 12 graphics chips, except that, with up to 512 execution units, the chips, known as Xe, seem to be aimed at the likes of Nvidia and AMD add-in boards rather than the usual integrated graphics from Intel. 18945 The build number for a new edition of Windows 10 currently being tested by Insiders. This build shows the future of Cortana as a chat app, rather than integrated in the Search box. ONE THIRD The number of fitness tracker owners who stop using their device after six months, according to consulting firm Endeavour Partners’ September 2013 survey. $3,000,000 The prize pot taken away by the winner of the Fortnite World Cup held…

There are many excellent family history programs out there for recording your family history, but for the purposes of this feature we’re choosing a free option – RootsMagic Essentials – that allows you to download and merge records from the internet. Head over to www.rootsmagic.com/ Essentials where you’ll find a download link. The free version has all the core functionality you need – you can always upgrade for £19.95 if you need the extra features. Once downloaded, install the program – untick the Place Database option when prompted (it’s for paid users only). After launching the program for the first time, choose the free version when prompted, close the ‘News and Updates’ box and then opt to create a new file. Give it a suitable name and choose where to…

You’ve recorded what you know about your family, but where do you go to track down missing information as well as the names of ancestors from further back in your tree? First, you’d be surprised what records exist – not just birth, marriage and death records, but all kinds of records to flesh out hitherto anonymous ancestors with a rich seam of detail about their lives. The days of hunting through dusty records in far-flung archives and parish churches for these records is long gone too, with ever-increasing numbers being digitised and made available online. And thanks to volunteer efforts like the Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes coupled with the global FamilySearch website, many records are now completely free. Sign up with FamilySearch You’ll need to register with FamilySearch to…

One of the most satisfying aspects of family history is reconnecting to your past through photographs, certificates and other interesting memorabilia, covering everything from personal biographies to boxing medals. Not of all of these items will currently be in your possession, and in fact you’re extremely likely to be unaware of how much still exists out there somewhere (don’t worry, we show you how to track it down over the page). But whether or not you own the physical copies of these family mementos, it’s a good idea to digitise it- not just for archival purposes, but to illustrate your research and share with others. Scan your material The best way to deal with your own photos and documents is with the help of a flatbed scanner. Your built-in scanner…

The internet is packed full of free genealogy records – if you know where to look. FamilySearch is obviously a rich and diverse source on its own, but there are plenty of other websites with specialised information too. Did your ancestor leave a will? Many wealthier ones did and you can browse the index for free at www.gov.uk/search-will-probate where you’ll find a surprising amount of detail (including the date and place of death, next of kin and value of their estate). If you can track down a likely place of burial, then search www.findagrave.com and www.billiongraves.com to see if the headstone has been photographed and transcribed by an army of volunteers. And if your ancestors emigrated abroad, you may track down free resources chronicling their arrival in the country –…

Packed with informative tutorials Every issue, we guarantee to pack the magazine with great tutorials teaching you all the best things you can do with your PC. Each article features step-by-step instructions to make learning new skills fast and enjoyable. Customise Windows to work your way We all know how to do the basics but getting the most from Windows isn’t always easy. Our dedication to the operating system means you get the very best tips and tricks for all versions of Windows. Get more from your favourite websites We all have our list of favourite sites but often we miss out on great features because they’re difficult to use or hidden from sight. We’ll show you how to do more online, for a more satisfying web life. Discover new…

1 Ensure Microsoft’s PDF printer is installed By default, Windows 10 includes a PDF printer, but it’s a good idea to check whether you have it installed or not. Click the Start button followed by Settings (the gear icon). Click the Devices icons and then move to the Printers & Scanners section. In addition to any physical printer you may have, you should also see an entry for Microsoft Print to PDF; if not, read on. 2 Install missing PDF printer While the PDF printer should be installed by default, it is entirely possible that it is missing and needs to be reinstalled. If you do need to reinstall it, press [Win] + [R] simultaneously to bring up the Run dialog. Type optionalfeatures.exe and press Enter, browse through…

1 Security notifications If Windows identifies a potential security problem on your PC, it will put a notification in the notification area of the Start Bar – but you might need to use the expand arrow to see it if there are multiple apps using that section. Clicking the notification opens Windows Security, where you can see how to deal with the issue. Here, Windows wants us to improve our account protection. 2 Set up the firewall Windows includes its own firewall, which is a security app designed to stop malicious apps from sending things to or from your PC. You’ll find it in Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Defender Firewall. You don’t have to use Microsoft’s one, but it’s a very good idea to…

1 Got the right version? This won’t work unless you’ve installed the Fall Creators Update. To check, open the Start menu and choose Settings > System > About to check your version number under ‘Windows specifications’. If you’re running the right version, go back to the Start menu and start typing ‘People’ in the Taskbar search box. When the search results appear, select the People app to run it. 2 Link your accounts If this is the first time you’ve used the People app, you’ll be prompted to link it to your accounts so it can import your contacts. The default accounts are those you’ve set up in Mail and Skype, and these can be quickly synced to the People app. Select Import Contacts, and soon you’ll see…

In any system, humans will find a way to subvert the rules for their own gain. It’s a recurring theme: from skipping class, cheating in games, fixing the banking system, and exploiting welfare, down to stealing from work, and gambling in Las Vegas. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that most humans choose the lazy option when it comes to password security. It’s too easy just to say humans are lazy, and pin terrible password security on that. Humans will always attempt to game systems at both ends, which is why passwords are being hacked and people want to avoid memorising them in the first place. It’s not good enough to just use a strong password; we now live in a world where so much is tied up with our…

Not all reinstalls require a complete wipe of your hard drive. A repair or refresh installation leaves your programs, settings and files in place, and restricts itself to installing a fresh copy of your Windows files over the top of your existing copy. If your problem is linked to a corrupt file or Windows setting, the repair installation can usually fix it. All repair installs share one common characteristic: you must launch them from Windows itself. You can’t boot from your install media and repair Windows through that; you need to boot into Windows, then start the repair process from there. If you’re unable to boot into Windows, therefore, you’ll need to skip to page 72 and perform a full destructive recovery instead. Start the repair Starting a repair install…

Reinstalling Windows from scratch – namely, wiping your system drive to install a fresh version of Windows on to it – is the ultimate choice for anyone looking to revive a slow PC or resolve a major, non-hardware issue. Here we’ll step you through the entire process – if you’re simply looking to repair an existing Windows install, turn to our guide on page 70. Before you begin, make sure your PC is fully backed up by following the ‘Back up Windows 10’ tutorial on page 43 of issue 148. A full reinstall really is destructive – nothing left on your C drive will exist once you’ve finished. If you’d like to transfer selected program settings from old installation to new, download the portable CloneApp tool (www.mirinsoft.com) to your backup…

So far, we’ve covered both traditional reinstall techniques, but there are other reasons – and methods – for reinstalling Windows. First up is the recovery option. Most pre-built PCs come with a built-in manufacturer’s recovery partition that enables you to restore Windows to its factory shipped condition. The main advantage of this method – aside from being cheaper and easier for the manufacturer, of course – is that your PC is restored to a guaranteed working state, with all the drivers it needs to function. The downsides are that a lot of extra unwanted software is usually installed alongside Windows, you need to exercise extreme caution not to lose everything on the drive, and that if the recovery partition corrupts – typically due to hardware failure – you’re left with…

£919 | $999 www.steampowered.com There’s little doubt that the Valve Index is the next-generation VR headset people have been clamouring for: it has an ultra-crisp display that runs fairly well even with older GPUs, a wider field of view, a higher refresh rate and Valve’s ‘knuckle’ controllers, which can track the movement of every finger. All said, it’s the complete VR package that we wanted three years ago. It’s easy to write off the Valve Index as another nondescript VR headset in the same vein as any Oculus Rift or HTC Vive – but the devil’s all in the detail here: on the front, there’s a glossy plastic faceplate above two front-facing cameras that can be used for passthrough video and, potentially, AR applications. Go to put the headset on…

The era of true wireless is well and truly here. Why struggle with tangling cables on your earphones when you can roam totally free? Well, you wouldn’t, so that’s why we’ve picked up the latest trul wireless earbuds to find out which deserve a spot in your ears. We’ve got some budget beauty, high-end luxe, the most secure pair we’ve ever seen, and the sequels to the most popular set so far. A few here also embrace wireless charging, which is a useful addition – set the cases down for a quick top-up when you walk by, and you effectively never need to think about charge again. But we’re mostly looking for the best sound, and rock-solid connectivity. 1 Bang & Olufsen E8 2.0 £300, www.bang-olufsen.com Despite…

Do you have a spare £3,200 lying around? Do you need a new laptop? Do you want a laptop which is outwardly cool and calm but inwardly the most powerful thing you can buy (or not – see p78)? Good news: Razer’s updated Blade Pro line is here, and it’s very fast. Smaller than its predecessor, with a handsome screen and innovative cooling system inside, it’s a really special thing – and this is the sort of hardware that’ll be affordable soon enough.…

AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs From £95 www.amd.com Chip-maker AMD released its third-generation Ryzen CPUs to the market in July, and they should be available in serious numbers by the time you read this. Built on an energy-efficient and space-saving 7nm process (that’s seven nanometres, seven billionths of a metre, its transistors etched smaller than the finest hair) while Intel remains largely at 14nm, it’s the first time AMD has beaten Intel to a new manufacturing process. And for the first time in 20 years, these new chips are highly competitive against Intel’s best. The new architecture (right), which sees one or more CPU-core-laden ‘chiplets’ packaged with an I/O chiplet, allows additional processing cores to be packed into the CPUs – up to 16 so far in this release. Intel still…

If you’re looking for a fully featured free alternative to RootsMagic, then try My Family Tree (https://chronoplexsoftware.com). Its main weakness is that it doesn’t link in with any online websites to provide both record matches and the ability to merge those records into your tree. Other paid-for programs also work with different genealogy websites: if you have a subscription to The Genealogist, then choose TreeView Standard Edition (£24.95 from www.thegenealogist.co.uk/shop/). Find My Past users should take a look at Family Historian (£35.99, www.family-historian.co.uk)while MyHeritage subscribers should look at Family Tree Builder (free, www. myheritage.com/family-tree-builder).…

When searching, a name on its own isn’t enough – who knew so many people shared the same name throughout the ages? Ideally, you’ll have additional information to throw in, like a birth date or the name of at least one immediate family member. All of this can then be entered into the search tool to try and narrow results further. FamilySearch has records from across the globe, so narrow your search to a specific country (such as England) by entering it into the Location box under ‘Restrict records by’. When searching for female ancestors, don’t forget to include their maiden name in searches to locate records from before they were married. Also look for options to search for variants of your ancestor’s name, to catch potential spelling or transcribing…

1 Select area to scan We’re using VueScan for this tutorial, but you should be able to replicate most of the steps in your own scanning application. Open VueScan and click the Preview button. When it’s complete, click and drag a box around the photo – VueScan will automatically adjust its lighting settings. 2 Set colour and resolution Choose ‘Gray’ from the Media drop-down menu if scanning in black and white or sepia-tinted images. Set the scanner resolution to 300 dpi to create a photo the same size and resolution as the original when printed; choose 600 dpi for smaller photos (3x2 inches or passport-sized). 3 Adjust lighting If the photo’s lighting isn’t perfect, explore ways of improving it. VueScan users should click the Options+ button once to reveal more…

1 Connect to Ancestry It’s possible to link any RootsMagic trees you’ve created to your Ancestry account, and doing so will reveal potential record matches online. Select ‘Internet > TreeShare for Ancestry’, click Sign in, enter your account credentials, tick both boxes and click ‘Sign In’ again. 2 Upload your tree Upload new Ancestry Tree’ to upload your existing tree to Ancestry. Fill in the details – including giving your tree a suitable name and description, plus choosing what to upload and whether to make the tree public or not. Click the button to upload the tree followed by Close. 3 Finishing touch Now > Options > Ancestry. Change the Ancestry domain dropdown to UK (.co.uk) to enable web hints. Click OK. Finally, log on to www.ancestry.co.uk in your browser…

1 Easy transitioning If you are moving from another browser to Edge, things are nice and simple. The first time you launch Edge you will be asked if you would like to import your bookmarked sites, saved passwords and other settings. Just hover over the ‘Import your favourites’ icon, click ‘Import now’, and use the options to the right to import data. After this, there is also the option of installing extensions to add new features, but we’ll return to that later. 2 Customisable start page When you open a new tab, Edge can show you not only shortcuts to your most frequently visited sites, but also a personalised news feed. To customise this, open a new tab and click the little gear icon to the upper right.…

1 Making the connection Whether you’re adding a monitor to a desktop computer or a laptop, the process is very much the same. You can connect a monitor via VGA, DisplayPort, HDMI, or DVI on the back of your computer case, or on the side of your laptop, and this will depend upon the age of your equipment. Making the physical connection is the first stage of working with a secondary display. 2 Screen mirroring When you first plug in a second monitor, it will initially display exactly the same as your main screen. This is handy if you want to show the same content – such as photos or videos – on more than one screen to make it easier for other people to see. If you…

1 Search and launch apps Opening Cortana and typing gives similar functionality to typing on the Start menu – it searches your PC, bringing up documents and apps that match your parameters. It’s speech recognition that improves things here, as ‘Hey Cortana, open Excel’ will plunge you into a fun world of spreadsheets. It might not be faster than clicking on an icon, but it feels futuristic. 2 Search the web You can give Cortana more context for the search, for example ‘documents from the last week’. If Cortana can’t find what you want on your PC, it resorts to an Internet search, in this case using Bing, with results opening in Edge. If you type your query, it will happen when you press [Enter], or you can…

Big audio suites are great, but they can be intimidating to say the least – sometimes you just want something that works, without having to think too much about it. Enter Audacity, from www.audacityteam.org. Audacity has become popular on all desktop platforms, and has started popping up on YouTube tutorials quite a bit. Known for its ease of use and intuitive interface, Audacity is perhaps the audio equivalent of Microsoft Paint – it can’t do deeply complicated tasks, but then it was never intended to do so. It’s designed around simple controls that most people can guess their way around, although that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve some great results with it. 1 Audacious audio Although, technically, Audacity can record multi-channel digital audio, the interface really isn’t designed for it…

We’re going to suggest three other commercial password managers – the ones that crop up most often, and generally offer similar features at similar costs. So, it’s down to you which you feel works the best. The first is 1Password. com; prices start at $2.99 per month for a single user, and $4.99 for a family account for four people. DashLane (www.dashlane.com) is a major player and offers a number of plans that will suit a wide range of consumer and business uses. The basic plan is free for all, but is limited to working on a single device. The paid home plan is $3.33 a month, and supports unlimited devices, password sharing, and Yubikey 2FA support. A business plan starts at $4 per user, and includes remote management, group…

Hardware LAPTOP SCREEN PROBLEMS Q I have a HP 15-ac152sa laptop that I purchased in 2015. I switched it on recently, and the display showed some kind of tearing effect. Is it worthwhile getting a replacement screen, or can you advise me on a similar model or two-in-one model to replace it? Maranda Greenidge Carrie’s solution This might be anything from a loose cable to a failed screen. If you felt including delivery from a screen parts specialist such as www.laptop-lcd-screen.co.uk(simply search for your model) – this assumes you can fit the screen yourself. Alternatively, shop around online for a fully fitted service where a local supplier might come to your location or offer a pickup/return service for around £100 to cover the screen, cost of fitting and delivery. For example,…

Start by stress-testing your desktop to verify that everything works as it should – sometimes the repair can introduce more problems than it solves, in which case if you’re running Windows 8.1 or 10 you can undo the changes. Go to Start > Settings > ‘Update & recovery’ > Recovery and look for an option to go back to your previous version – click ‘Get started’ and then follow the prompts. If the repair doesn’t appear to fix your underlying problem, Windows 8.1 and 10 users can take one more intermediate step – the reset or repair. It will see you waving goodbye to all those desktop programs you’ve installed (including MS Office and your third-party security software), but it will preserve your Microsoft Store apps, files and Windows settings.…

Once Windows is reinstalled, open Windows Update to bring Windows fully up to date – don’t be surprised if there are hundreds of updates still to apply in the case of Windows 7 and 8.1. Once it’s fully up to date, consider reinstalling Macrium Reflect Free and taking your first drive image – a vanilla backup you can restore in future instead of reinstalling Windows itself. Next, it’s a case of reinstalling your core apps. Once in place, open CloneApp from your data drive. If you click the Restore button, every single program setting you backed up will be restored – if there are any backup settings you don’t want to restore, select Options to locate the backup folder, then open it and move any program folders you want to…

1 Partition hard drive You’ll need to partition your drive to free up space on which to store your copy of Windows. The best tool for the job is AOMEI Partition Assistant (www.aomeitech.com/ aomeipartition-assistant.html). Start by clicking Make Bootable Media under Wizards to create rescue media. 2 Shrink main partition Select your Windows drive (typically C:) and click Resize/ Move Partition under Partition Operations. Use the slider to free up at least 30GB space to the right of the Windows partition. If your drive is an SSD, click ‘Advanced>>’ and tick ‘Allow partition alignment…’ Click ‘OK’. 3 Add new Windows partition Now select the newly created Unallocated space to the right of drive C and click ‘Create Partition’ under Partition Operations. Verify NTFS is the file system…

From £2,800 | $3,500 www.eurocom.com Have you ever handled a ream of A3 paper? The Tornado F7W is about as big, thick and heavy. At 428mm x 314mm and up to 51mm thick, it is actually bigger. It weighs 4.2Kg, to which you need to add an extra 1.9Kg for the 330W power supply unit from Liteon (which itself is about the size of a brick). Erocom specialises in highly bespoke, performance portable laptops. Think of the firm as extreme car tuners. This is a mobile workstation laptop, the only eight-core laptop on the market that can accommodate 128GB of RAM. Configured this way, it carries a jaw-dropping price tag of more than $9,300 (£7,460) at the time of writing, although the starting price is about $3,500 (£2,800). The case…