Link Safe

Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs updates as soon as they’re available, which is designed to keep your PC more secure but may become annoying if you’re trying to concentrate on something else at the time. Windows 10 Pro users can defer these updates by going to Settings, Update & Security, clicking ‘Advanced options’ and then ticking the ‘Defer upgrades’ box. There is also a free troubleshooting tool from Microsoft designed to let you temporarily uninstall updates that are causing system crashes or instability until a fix is available, which you can download from bit.ly/1i48Udj. Run this tool, select ‘Hide updates’ and Windows won’t install the unwanted updates until you tell it to.

Stop your PC sharing updates over the internet
Windows 10 has a built-in P2P-style system called Windows Update Delivery Optimization (WUDO), which shares Windows updates you’ve downloaded with other PCs over the internet. This benefits users on slower, less reliable connections, but if you’d rather not give up your internet bandwidth, you can disable the feature. Open Settings and click Update & Security. Click Windows Update and then click the ‘Advanced options’ link. Click ‘Choose how updates are delivered’. You can turn the feature off entirely, or restrict it to just PCs on your local network.

Stop Windows 10 sharing your Wi-Fi
Windows 10 introduces a new feature called Wi-Fi Sense (bit.ly/1LzQV8h), which lets you connect to open hotspots and wireless networks that have been shared by your friends, and share your own wireless network with Outlook.com contacts, Skype contacts and Facebook friends, without having to give them your actual Wi-Fi password. Sense restricts what people have access to, and despite some of the scare stories in the media, it’s rather useful and not really a privacy risk because your Wi-Fi details are encrypted. However, if you don’t like the idea of your Wi-Fi data being shared, it’s easily disabled. Go to Start, Settings, Network & Internet, Wi-Fi, Manage Wi-Fi settings and turn off the sharing features. You can also prevent the service from using your Wi-Fi by adding optout to the end of the box displaying the name of your wireless access point (the SSID).

Stop Microsoft spying on you
You can adjust Windows 10’s privacy settings if you don’t want your data to be stored, shared or used without your permission. Click Start, type privacy settings, then hit Enter. Work your way through the settings using the categories on the left. For instance, you can choose which apps have access to your location, webcam and microphone. Windows 10 and Cortana want to ‘get to know you’, which sounds innocuous but actually involves collecting things like contacts, recent calendar events, speech and handwriting patterns, and typing history. This can be disabled entirely if you don’t like the idea.

Bypass the Windows 10 lock screen
By default, Microsoft forces you to log into Windows afresh each time you start up, either using a username and password, or a PIN. The latter is the speedier option of the two, but you can choose to skip the login stage altogether and boot directly to the Desktop. This obviously compromises your security a little, so might not be a good idea if there are nosy people in your house or office.

To make the change, click Start, type run, then click the Run option, type netplwiz and click OK (or press Window+R and do the same). Highlight your account and untick the option ‘Users must enter a username and password to use this computer’. Click Apply, then enter your password and confirm it. Click OK, restart your PC and you’ll be logged straight into Windows without needing to enter a password.

Manage your Windows 10 notifications
Windows 10’s new Action Centre displays all the notifications you receive from Windows and certain installed applications. If you feel you’re seeing too many, however, you can restrict both the types of notification you see, and the specific apps that are able to send them. Open the Action Centre by clicking on the notification icon in the System Tray. Click All Settings, System and Select ‘Notifications & actions’. You’ll see a list of Notifications categories, each of which can be toggled on or off. These include ‘Show me tips about Windows’, ‘Show app notifications’, ‘Show notifications on the lock screen’, and ‘Show alarms, reminders and incoming VoIP calls on the lock screen’. Below you’ll see which apps are able to send you notifications, and you can remove any you don’t want in the same way. You can additionally configure quick actions by clicking on notifications when they appear in the System Tray area.

Use Quiet Hours to silence notifications
If your PC is on all the time, you probably won’t want it playing sounds in the middle of the night every time a new notification arrives. To stop this, click the notification icon in the System Tray, then select All Settings, System, then ‘Notifications & actions’. Browse the list of apps and make sure ‘Play a sound when a notification arrives’ is turned off for all items. To disable notifications altogether during the night, open the Action Centre in the System Tray and click the Quiet Hours button. Just make sure you turn the feature off again in the morning.
Change your default browser
Microsoft’s new browser Edge is the default in Windows 10, but it’s arguably a bit lacking when compared to the likes of Chrome or Firefox. Fortunately, you don’t have to stick with Edge if you don’t want to. To change your default browser, open the Start menu, type default app settings and hit Enter. Click Web Browser, then select your preferred browser as the default.

Thanks for your excellent feature ‘Windows One problem that immediately resonated with me was ‘Why has my trusty printer stopped working?’ because I had a similar problem with my KODAK 3250 printer. Basically, after upgrading to Windows 10, I kept seeing the printer error message: ‘100-8200 UI - file is missing’. I followed the advice in your feature (which suggested manually re-installing the printer software), but it didn’t fix the problem. I knew my ink cartridges were empty, so I decided to replace them and then tried the fix again. Doing this immediately solved the problem and Windows 10 detected my printer. Many online forums warn users against paying heed to Windows 10’s vague printer errors. In most cases, the fix is a simple one which people tend to overlook such as empty cartridges or a faulty connection.

Windows 10 has mostly received favourable reviews, and over 20 million users installed it within the first week. However, one common gripe with Windows 10 relates to setting the default programs. You probably

selected ‘Express settings’ during installation, which sets all your defaults to Microsoft programs (the Edge browser, Photos app, Music app, and soon). Unlike in earlier versions of Windows, it requires more than a few clicks to change your default programs. This even frustrated the CEO of Mozilla to the point where he wrote an open letter to Microsoft highlighting the issue (you can read it at mzl.la/1NlnkT6).

We’ll show you how to change your default browser from Microsoft Edge to Chrome and your default music player from the Music app to VLC media player. The same instructions apply to re-set any of your other defaults, including photo editing, email and online-storage programs. Open the Start menu, click Settings, System, then click ‘Default apps’ at the bottom left. You’ll now see a list of all the default (Microsoft) programs on your PC. To change your browser, click Microsoft Edge under ‘Web browser’, then click Chrome. Similarly, to change your music player, click Music under ‘Music player’, then select ‘VLC media player’ (see screenshot).

Microsoft is rolling out updates to the Windows 10 Technical Preview thick and fast. One feature in the latest Build (10074) lets you make the Start menu and Taskbar transparent. This effect. called Aero Glass. is in the Windows 7 Start menu and Taskbar. but not in Windows 8.

First, check your Windows 10 Technical Preview Build number at the bottom-right corner of your screen. If it isn't Build 10074. you need to update your version. To do that. click the Start menu. Settings. ‘Update & security' at the bottom. then click the ‘Advanced options‘ link at the bottom right. Select ‘Automatic (recommended)‘ from the dropdown menu at the top. tick the box below. then scroll to the bottom and select Fast in the dropdown menu below. Now click the back icon in the top left corner. then Install.

When your PC reboots after updating, check to see whether your Taskbar is transparent. If not. you can enable the effect from within the Registry Editor. Click the search field at the bottom. type <regedit>, press Enter. then Yes to open the Registry Editor.Now navigate through the following keys by clicking the dropdown menus beside each one: 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER_\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize. Double-click the EnableBlurBehind key and change its value to 1 (from the default 0) in the “Value data’ field (see screenshot). Next. double~click the EnableTransparency key, change its value to 1. then click OK. Finally. restart your PC to see the changes.

If you’d prefer to have the Windows 10 logon screen display a colour rather than an image, which may make it load slightly faster, navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System and right-click in the right-hand pane. Select New, DWORD (32-bit) and name it ‘DisableLogonBackgroundImage’, then give it a value of 1. Windows 10 will use the same colour as your Desktop wallpaper. You can change this under Settings, Personalisation, Colours.

By default, Microsoft’s new operating system uses a light theme, but you can unlock a dark alternative by using a simple Registry tweak. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize

then right-click in the right-hand pane and select New, DWORD (32-bit). Name it ‘AppsUseLightTheme’. Right-click it and select Modify. Make sure the Value Data is set to 0. Restart your PC, or log off and log on again, and the dark theme will be applied. Change the value to 1, or delete the DWORD to go back to the default light theme.

Windows 10 won’t launch until later this year but you can already try it out on your smartphone. The operating system will run across all devices including PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones, and will take over from the Windows Phone OS. New features include full-size art for the Start screen, more settings in Action Center, interactive notifications, better speech-to-text and an improved Photos app. Future builds will include universal apps versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Mail and Calendar.

Supported devices

The Lumia 520, 525, 526, 530, 530 Dual Sim, 535, 620, 625, 630, 630 Dual Sim, 635, 636, 638, 720, 730, 730 Dual SIM, 735, 810, 820, 822, 830, 920, 925, 928, 1020, 1320, 1520 and ICON, and the Microsoft Lumia 430, 435, 435 Dual SIM, 435 Dual SIM DTV, 532, 532 Dual SIM, 535 Dual SIM and 640 Dual SIM. Microsoft stresses that bugs may cause some devices to be removed from the list and fixes may add others.

Head to the Store on your Windows Phone device and download the Windows Insider app.bit.ly/1Hhd3zD

Once it’s installed, launch the app and select the ‘Get preview builds’ option.

You’ll need to enrolon the Windows Insider programme to get preview builds of the software and you have two options, Insider Slow or Insider Fast. Fast will get you updates quicker but they have the potential to

be more buggy and crash. The Slow option will involve you waiting longer but receiving a more stable build. Select the one you prefer and hit the arrow button at the bottom of the screen.

Once the update has downloaded and installed, your phone will reboot and migrate some data. You’ll then be given a ‘success’ message but you’re not quite done. As it says, you can leave the phone plugged into the mains and let it do the rest or head to the Insider app to complete the upgrade.

The Windows Command Prompt (‘command line’) is your PC’s last living link to MS-DOS. It’s barely aged a day and remains one of Windows’ most powerful tools, but it’s sorely under-used. No surprise, really: it’s stuffed with jargon and looks like something a nostalgic hacker would dream about.

Windows 10 will make the command line a little more user-friendly by letting you paste text into it. But whatever version of Windows you’re using, this age-old tool makes life easier by giving you quick control of tasks that would otherwise involve lots of clicking around in the Control Panel – anything from shutting down your PC to copying multiple files from one directory to another.

Open it by typing cmd into Start and pressing Enter. Type a ‘command’ at the ‘prompt’ (the line of text that starts with ‘C:’ and ends with ‘>’) and then press Enter to carry out your chosen task. Over the next few issues we’ll reveal some truly powerful and inventive commands, but first here are the 10 Command(ments) for finding your way around the Command Prompt.

1. See a list of commands

Type help at the prompt and press Enter to instantly generate a list of common commands, along with brief details. The list is in capital letters, but you can type commands in lower case (or even a mix)

the command line isn’t case-sensitive.

Your next instinct may be to save this list of commands to your Desktop for easy reference. However, there’s no File menu and no support for copy and paste (pre-Windows 10, at least), so you can’t just press Ctrl+A then copy and paste everything to Notepad. But here’s a trick: type space, then | clip after any command, and the results will be automatically copied to your clipboard. For example, type help | clip and press Enter, then open Notepad and press Ctrl+V to paste the list of commands.

Type a command, then a space, then /?and press Enter to see a description. In some cases you need to type ?/ instead of /?; try both.

By default, the Command Prompt accesses ‘C:\Users\your name’. To access your entire hard drive instead, type cd\ and press Enter to get a new prompt: ‘C:\>’. Alternatively, specify a directory to work in. For example, type cd\windows\system32 to move the prompt to the ‘system32’ folder, where hidden system files are kept, even in 64bit PCs.

Type dir and press Enter to see folders in the current directory. If you’re at the ‘Users’ prompt, for example, you’ll see a list including Desktop, Downloads and Searches, along with modification dates.

Type tree to see a visual tree of every file in your selected directory. If your prompt is ‘C:\>’ and you’ve had your computer for years, you may need to go and make a cup of tea while the tree populates but don’t wander far, because it’s fascinating to watch.

Type cmd or command to generate a new prompt at the same location as your previous prompt. So if you’d been at ‘C:\>’, the new prompt will also be ‘C:\>’. To go back to default, close Command Prompt and start again.

Type start to open a second Command Prompt window, showing the same prompt as in the first window.

Type doskey /history to see all the commands you’ve typed in the current session.

Type cls to remove everything from the window except the prompt.

Installing a fresh copy of Windows, rather than upgrading, can improve your PC’s performance. We shows you how. Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade to anyone with a genuine version of Windows 7 or 8.1. To update your current version of Windows, you just need to reserve it through the Get Windows 10 app that should have appeared in your notification area several weeks ago. This method works well enough, but it’s no good if you want to perform a clean install without any of the baggage from previous Windows versions slowing your PC. Fortunately, installing a clean version of the operating system (OS) is relatively straightforward.

Microsoft has released a special tool (bit.ly/download) designed to let you create a Windows 10 installation DVD or USB flash drive, which means you can install the new operating system on any PC. There are 32- and 64-bit versions available. The same tool will also let you immediately upgrade an existing version of Windows, in case there’s been a delay and you’re still waiting for Microsoft to send your update. With a straightforward upgrade, the new operating system is copied over the old one, so all your software, personal files and system settings are preserved. This may sound like good news, because you’ll be able to pick up where you left off once the upgrade is complete. However, all the junk you’ve accrued over the years will still be there, slowing down your PC. If you want Windows 10 to run as speedily as possible, with fewer problems, it’s best to perform a clean installation.

It’s important to understand what you can and can’t do when installing a fresh copy of Windows 10. If you update a PC running Windows 7 or 8.1, the installer will use your current valid Windows licence and upgrade your system. This will convert the licence key into one that works with Windows 10, and automatically store it in the cloud. If, in future, you want to wipe your hard drive and install Windows 10 from scratch, this converted key should work, provided you use it on the same PC.

Before you start using Windows 10, you’ll need to check that the upgraded OS is activated by going to Settings, Update & Security, Activation and making sure you see the ‘Windows is Activated’ message. You will need to ensure that you log into the Windows account linked to Windows 10. If you’re not sure sure what this is, you can check it under Settings, Accounts, Your Account.

If you don’t update an existing version of Windows, and attempt to install Windows 10 just using the setup media that the tool creates, you’ll run into problems because it won’t recognise an unconverted Windows 7 or 8.1 key. In this instance, you are left with two choices: you can either buy a Windows 10 licence, which isn’t cheap, or you can first install either Windows 7 or 8.1 on that PC, upgrade it to Windows 10 to get a new Windows 10-compatible licence, and then install a clean version of the new OS. The second option is much more time-consuming than the first, but at least it will save you having to spend any money.

When you perform a clean installation, everything on your PC will be wiped. This includes installed software, personal files, settings, browser bookmarks, passwords and more. It’s important, therefore, that you first back up a copy of everything you will want to use on your upgraded PC. You can back up your Firefox

settings using an add-on such as FEBE (bit.ly/febe), which can back up your extensions, themes, bookmarks, preferences, passwords, cookies and even your entire profile. Chrome can be backed-up using your Google account. Click the menu button and select Settings. Under ‘Sign in’, click the ‘Advanced sync settings’ button and choose whether you want to sync everything or only selected items. We recommend the former option in this case.

Personal files, such as documents, photos and music tracks, can be copied to a new location or backed up using any reputable backup program. Todo Backup Free (bit.ly/todo) is a good option. CloneApp (bit.ly/cloneapp) is a useful portable tool that can create a backup of all of your app settings from relevant Windows directories and the Registry. Run it on the PC that you’ll be installing a fresh version of Windows on, to display a list of the installed programs that have configuration files it can back up. There’s a custom tool you can use to back up the settings for programs that CloneApp doesn’t support. Select any software that has personal settings you want to keep. This won’t be every program because some, such as CCleaner, you’ll only be able to download and reinstall on your new OS. Once you’ve backed up the settings. How to reinstall from scratch using the Media Creation tool, below. You can then reinstall your missing software and, when that’s done, run CloneApp and click the Restore button. All your backed-up settings will be restored.

If you haven’t installed Windows in a long time (or ever) and don’t have your original installation media to hand, you might not know what your Windows key is. Fortunately, ProduKey (go to www.nirsoft.net and search for it) can provide this information without needing to be installed. Run it to display the key used to activate your current version of Windows, as well as your current version of Microsoft Office, if you’ve got it installed.

You don’t need a valid licence to install Windows 10 from scratch. If you choose to skip the step where you’re asked for your key, the OS will still install without any problems. It won’t be activated, and you will only be able to use Windows 10 for a short while, but you can worry about a key later. If you want to avoid using a key altogether, you can join the Windows Insider program (insider.windows.com). This will put you on the cutting edge testing program, with access to new builds of the OS as soon as they become available. You won’t need a key (because you’ll be granted a temporary one), but bear in mind that you may be running a build that’s potentially buggy and unstable.

The latest version (Build) of the Windows 10 Technical Preview has an updated Photos app. If you’ve yet to install the Windows 10 Technical Preview. To update to the latest Build (10162, at the time of writing), open the Start menu, click Settings, ‘Update & security’, then the ‘Advanced options’ link. Now select ‘Automatic (recommended)’ from the dropdown menu at the top, tick the box below (‘Give me updates when…’), then scroll to the bottom and select Fast from the dropdown menu below. Next, click the top-left Back button, then click ‘Check for updates’ and wait until your PC updates and restarts. Your Build number is shown at the bottom right of the screen.

The Photos app consists of photos and videos you’ve saved to your PC (including screenshots) as well as media files saved to your OneDrive account. To sync your PC with OneDrive (which comes as a default app in Windows 10), type onedrive in the search box at the bottom, then click the first option, log into your account and follow the steps.

To open the updated Photos app, click the Start button, then click the Photos tile on the right section. You’ll see your media files as large thumbnails arranged by date. To hide duplicates, click the Settings (cog) icon at the bottom left, then click the slider beside ‘When photos have online duplicates or digital negatives, show just one’. If you don’t want to see your OneDrive photos within the app, then click the slider beside ‘Show my photos and videos from OneDrive’. Now click Collection at the top left. To delete multiple items in one go, move your cursor to the ones you want to delete and click the boxes at their top right . Next, click the Bin icon at the bottom right, then click Delete.

Overcome sound problems Audio problems are currently the most widely reported complaints about Windows 10. There are various workarounds depending on the source of the problem, so if you’re not sure what’s gone wrong, or even what hardware you have installed, try them all. To fix an issue with Conexant audio hardware, click Start, type msconfig.exe, hit Enter and click on the Boot tab. Click the Advanced options button, click the Maximum memory box and set the value to ‘3072’. For a VIA HD Audio-related problem, right-click the audio icon in the System Tray, and select Playback Devices. Right-click the audio output device and select ‘Set as Default Device’. Select the hardware, click Properties, click the Enhancements tab and tick the ‘Disable all enhancements’ box. Finally, if you have a Realtek audio driver installation problem (you’ll see the error code 0x000005b4), there’s a solution to try at bit.ly/sounderror378. Overcome Windows 10

The Windows 10 upgrade process should go smoothly, but occasionally it doesn’t. The error 0x800F0923 is likely caused by an incompatible program or driver. You can address the issue in the Get Windows 10 app by clicking the menu button, and then ‘Check your PC’. Error 0x800F0922 happens when there is not enough free space on the partition you’re installing Windows in. Error 0x80200056 occurs when the upgrade was interrupted try again and hopefully it will work this time. If your PC fails to meet the minimum requirements (which should only happen with a very old PC), you will see the error codes 0xC1900200 

0x20008 and 0xC1900202 – 0x20008. 

Changing the colour of program title bars in Windows 10 is much harder than it used to be. Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes. Click the ‘aero’ folder, copy it by pressing Ctrl+C, then paste (Ctrl+V) to create a backup. Click Continue in the Folder Access Denied box, then tick the ‘Do this for all current items’ option and click Skip. Select the copied folder and press F2, then name the folder ‘Colours’. Click Continue to skip the UAC warning.

Open the folder, select ‘aero.mstyles’, press F2 and rename it ‘colours.mstyles’. Open the en-GB folder and change ‘aero.msstyles.mui’ to ‘colours.msstyles.mui’. Accept the UAC warning both times. Return to the Themes folder and copy the ‘aero.theme’ file to your Desktop. Rename it ‘colors.theme’. Right-click the file, go to ‘Open with’ and select Notepad. Scroll down to the [VisualStyles] section and change‘Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles’ to ‘Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\colours.msstyles’. Close and save the file, then double-click the shortcut to change the colour of the title bars. To change the colour scheme, go to Start, Settings, click Personalisation and pick a different colour. The changes will be made instantly. To undo the change, open the Desktop shortcut in Notepad, rename ‘Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\colours.msstyles’ back

to ‘Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles’, save the file and double-click the shortcut.

If you don’t intend to upgrade to Windows 10 when it's released this summer. you‘d probably rather the upgrade notification didn't persistently sit in the notification area of your Windows 7 taskbar. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to remove it by uninstalling the Windows updates that are responsible for its presence.

Open the Start menu, type programs and features and press Enter. Next, click ‘View installed updates’ and locate the following updates: 3035583, 2952664, 3021917, Right-click each one and select Uninstall and Restart Later when the prompt appears. Next, restart your PC so that the changes take effect and the irritating Windows 10 icon will have disappeared from your taskbar.

To make sure that the notification doesn't come back, you need to prevent the updates you just deleted from being downloaded again. To do this, open Windows Update from the Start menu, select 'Check for updates', click the ‘important update is available' link and right-click the updates mentioned in the previous paragraph, clicking 'Hide update' on each one.

Get ahead of the pack with these mods and tricks for Microsofts new OS. The top tips from bulid 10158.

Windows 10’s command prompt has a new trick adjustable window opacity. Right-click on the command prompt header, select Properties, choose the Colours tab and at the bottom, drag the Opacity slider left to make the command prompt window progressively more see-through. Very handy if you still need to see what’s behind the prompt.

GodMode is a one-stop panel that gathers all Control Panel commands within Windows 10. Create a folder on your desktop (or documents folder, it doesn’t matter) and rename it exactly: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} That means the period ‘.’ and the curly braces ‘{‘ and ‘}’. Press Enter and the folder changes to the Control Panel icon and rename itself ‘GodMode’. Use carefully.

You don’t have to put up with spending your data quota on maps when searching for directions you can pre-download maps for offl ine use. Select ‘Settings > System > Offline Maps’, press the ‘+’ icon next to Download Maps and choose your country area to download. Currently, Australia is a 461MB download, while New Zealand maps will cost you 110MB of space.

It’s quite a bit skinnier than it was on Windows 8, but the Show Desktop button still exists on the Windows 10 taskbar it’s at the far right end. By default, it shows the desktop, but right-click on the skinny button and choose ‘Peek at desktop’. Now when you roll the cursor over it, it’ll show the desktop and revert back when you move away.

Windows has a new Task View feature Windows Key-Tab, which also hides a ‘+ New desktop’ icon bottom right. Yep, Windows 10 now supports virtual desktops. Click that icon to create a new virtual desktop or use the ‘Windows Key-Ctrl-D’ shortcut and use Windows Key-Tab to choose between desktops. Ideal if you don’t or can’t have a second monitor.

We’ve covered it elsewhere this month, but just in case you’ve missed it, the new Start menu can be resized like any app, by just clicking and dragging the top or right edge of the Start panel. The top edge is continuously resizable, while the right edge collapses the tile panels into a single vertical column.

Keep missing those ‘here-gone’ notifications in the system tray? Windows 10 has expanded this out to a new Action Centre panel, keeping track of notifications and when they were sent. Just click on the text bubble icon in the system tray and the panel flows out from the right-side. Use this to also switch between desktop and tablet modes.

The new Command Prompt now also allows you to use Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V to copy and paste commands inside. But to get this happening, you need to right-click on the Command Prompt header, select Properties and at the bottom of the Options tab, tick off the ‘Use legacy console’ checkbox (it’s on by default in Preview 10130). This should autocheck the ‘Enable Ctrl key shortcuts’. Restart and you’re away.

You can get Cortana to respond only to your voice. Click on the Cortana search bar, select Notebook from the left menu, choose Settings, scroll down and tick the box at ‘Let Cortana respond to Hey Cortana’. Press the Learn My Voice button and speak the phrases to teach Cortana your voice. After that, it automatically sets the Respond option to ‘To me’ and now only responds to your voice.

Windows 10 is getting a new Mail app. Open it, click on the Settings (gearwheel) icon at the bottom-left and

then Options from the pop-out Settings menu on the right-side. The Quick Actions option sets out how right and left swipe gestures work. Either way, you can choose to delete, move, mark as read or set/unset a flag.

File Explorer replaces the Favourites folder view with ‘Quick Access’, but if you’d prefer to go straight to ‘This PC’ when the app is launched and see all your storage, click on the View tab, select Options and change ‘Open File Explorer to:’ setting to ‘This PC’. Click the OK button and restart File Explorer to commit.

Don’t want the Cortana search assistant taking up so much taskbar space? Right-click on an empty part of the taskbar, select Cortana and choose ‘Hidden’ to change it to a pop-up. You can keep Cortana on the taskbar as a standard icon by choosing the ‘Show Cortana icon’ instead. You can also revert back to the search bar again using the same method.

Windows 10 has a new Snap feature it now supports a 2x2 grid. So learn these Windows Key+<Arrow> key shortcuts. Replace <Arrow> with ‘left’ to snap the current window to the left, ‘right’ to the right, ‘Up’ to the top and ‘Down’ to the bottom. Double-up commands to reach the quadrants, for example top-left is Windows Key+<Left>, then Windows Key+<Up>.

The new Start menu doesn’t bring back Control Panel to the menu list, but you’ve still got the power user menu from Windows 8. Just right-click on the Start icon or type ‘Windows key-X’ to bring it up. In Build 10158, it’s exactly the same as it is in Windows 8, so you shouldn’t have trouble with it.

Using a Solid State Drive as your system drive and want to conserve space? Tell Windows to save future apps to other storage. Select ‘Settings > System > Storage’, make sure your alternate drive is available and set ‘New apps will save to’ to your alternate drive. It should work nicely with Windows 10 tablets.

Microsoft killed it off in Windows 8, but the old Backup and Restore app from Windows 7 has made a return in Build 10158 of Windows 10 Preview and should make an ideal option for Windows 7 users to jump straight to Windows 10. You’ll fi nd it lurking in the Control Panel.

We show you how to perform a clean install of Windows 10. It’s important to remember that although the new operating system is billed as “free”, this only applies if you update an existing version of Windows 7 or 8.1. If you want to run Windows 10 from XP or Vista without having to pay for it, you will need to install Windows 7 or 8.1 first, then upgrade by July 2016. After that, a Windows 10 licence will cost you £99.99 for the Home edition, or £189.99 for Pro. If you’re currently running Windows XP or Vista, you can reduce the overall cost of Windows 10 by first purchasing a cheap edition of Windows 7 or 8+ from Amazon or eBay, where they sell for as little as £30, and then upgrading from that. Make sure it’s genuine, however, and that you have Service Pack 1 or Update 1 installed, or Microsoft won’t let you perform the free upgrade to Windows 10. Also, your PC will need to meet the minimum system requirements for Windows 7, 8 and 10.

One of the most controversial extra costs for Windows 10 concerns the official Windows DVD Player app, which replaces the absent Windows Media Center. If you’re upgrading from Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate, or Windows 8.1 with Media Center, then Microsoft says you will get Windows DVD Player for free “for a limited time that will end at or before the [end of the] free Windows 10 upgrade offer” (bit.ly/Dvdapp). If you’re upgrading from any other version of Windows, the app will set you back £11.59 from the Store (bit.ly/dvdplyr). This is a lot for a very basic tool that can only play DVDs, not Blu-rays, and there are plenty of rival apps that can do a lot more, and are free to use. Our favourite is the brilliant VLC Media Player, which is available both as a program (www.videolan.org/vlc) and a Windows 10 app (bit.ly/vlcapp),

Microsoft Solitaire Collection, which you can find under ‘M’ in the Windows 10 All Apps list, or by clicking Start and typing Solitaire). Although the app is free, and offers lots of game variations, Microsoft wants you to upgrade to the Premium version, which costs £1.19 per month (or £7.69 outright). That might not sound like much, but all you get for your money are the ads removed (and they aren’t obtrusive anyway), more coins for completing Daily Challenges (which you don’t need) and a boost for every game of TriPeaks and Pyramid (which, again, you don’t need). If you play Solitaire for hours every day, it’s arguably worth the outlay, but you’d be better off playing a free online version such as Solitr (solitr.com).

There are free Office apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint and others available from the Windows 10 Store, which let you create and edit documents, and are simple to use but powerful enough for most users’ needs. However, Microsoft would rather have you shell out for an annual Office 365 subscription to unlock the app’s full range of features. To avoid the subscription, which starts at £59.99 per year for Office 365 Personal (which covers one PC only), you can buy Office Home & Student 2013 outright for a one-off £109.99 (bit.ly/office). Alternatively, you can forego paid-for office software altogether and use the recently updated LibreOffice 5 (www.libreoffice.org), which is entirely free.

Finally, to buy anything from the Windows Store, you need to first link a payment option such as a credit or debit card, or PayPal to your Microsoft account, making it all too easy to lose track of your spending. You could avoid this by removing your payment option after making a purchase, or better still invest in a Windows Store Gift Card (bit.ly/Giftcard). This lets you buy apps whenever you want, but limits the total amount you can spend. Gift Cards are available for amounts up to £50, and they never expire, so you can use them whenever you want. You can also share paid-for apps with family and friends so they don’t have to pay separately, or just split the cost between you. 

Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn’t made a great fist of explaining how the free Windows 10 upgrade will work and given the emails we’ve received from readers, it seems there are still more questions than answers. So, here’s what we know so far:

There is no upgrade path from XP or Vista to Windows 10. But, sign up to Microsoft’s Insider Program with a valid Microsoft account, clean-install the latest Windows 10 Preview Build from an ISO image and most importantly continue in the Insider Program after July 29 and it seems Microsoft will for all intents and purposes allow you an on-going Windows 10 install. You’ll, of course, have to put up with bugs, fixes and, in all likelihood, Microsoft monitoring, but it’s one way to get ongoing prerelease beta-grade Windows 10 for free (tinyurl.com/p8z5uhn).

If you have a genuine-licensed Windows 7 SP1 or 8.1 install that isn’t Enterprise edition, you should qualify for a free final-release upgrade. Aside from any hardware incompatibilities preventing upgrading, it’ll work like this users with Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic or Home Premium or Windows 8.1 will get Windows 10 Home; those on Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate or Windows 8.1 Pro, Pro Student or Pro WMC will upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. However, all upgrades will need the following: 3GB of download bandwidthœ Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 updates preinstalled. œ Windows Update enabled œ You must upgrade within one year.

This last point has caused some to think after one year, the free upgrade will become a subscription fee. It’s not to say Microsoft won’t have Windows-as-a-Service sometime in the future, but on current info, if you have what Microsoft considers a ‘genuine’ licensed install of Windows 7 SP1 or 8.1, the upgrade will be freely available to download for one year, but the upgraded installation will remain free to use for the life of the device. (tinyurl.com/nnjzbmz). While the Preview Builds have been made available as ISO images, we have no word that the free fi nal-release upgrade will be available this way  but it’s possible.

As we’ve noted, if you haven’t updated to the latest versions of Windows 7 SP1 or 8.1, you must do so before the Windows 10 upgrade can begin. We’ve been asked if you can install Windows 8.1 fresh from install media and use a Windows 8 key. The answer is typically ‘no’ you need a Windows 8.1 key. However, there may be (complicated) ways around this we don’t have space to cover it here, but check out this HowToGeek tutorial (tinyurl.com/mjppzab).

Finally, noticed the new ‘Get Windows 10’ icon in your system notification tray? One reader feared accidently clicking on it would lock-in the upgrade. It doesn’t it just launches the upgrade offer app. You have to click the ‘Reserve your free upgrade’ button, then enter your email address in the app window before anything happens.