We fix your tech problems
APC and its readers can be one giant helpdesk. If you have a technical problem, chances are one of us can solve it.
WINDOWS
STOP SHARING A WINDOWS ACCOUNT
My wife and I share a Google account, email and so on, but I use Windows 10 on a PC in my study and she uses the same on a laptop in the lounge. She has recently upgraded to a new laptop which I set up for her, but whereas her previous laptop had her name on the welcome screen, it now has mine, as it appears on my own PC welcome screen. Is there any way we can change the welcome screen name on my wife’s laptop?
Martin Gulliver
This occurs because you’re sharing the same Microsoft Account to log into both PCs. The logical step is to set your wife up with her own Microsoft Account. If you go down this route, start by copying everything inside C:\Users\martin into the C:\Users\Public folder, then use CloneApp (www.mirinsoft.com/ ms-apps/cloneapp) to back up any program settings you can’t easily recreate in the new user account. Once done, create the new account via ‘Settings > Accounts > Family & other users’ (click ‘Add a family member’, choose ‘Add an adult’ and then click ‘The person who I want to add doesn’t have an email address’ before following the prompts to create the account, making sure they have administrator access).
Once done, log off the Martin account, then log on as your wife. Navigate to C:\users\Public to copy the folders to your new user account. Verify all her existing programs are present — some may need reinstalling if they were installed for a single user rather than all users — and then finally run CloneApp to restore her preferences.
Once you’re happy everything has been transferred across, clean things up by emptying the Public folder and then deleting the old user account via ‘Settings > Accounts > Family & other users. Ian Sleightholm
MAC
GETTING PREFERENCE CHANGES TO STICK
I’ve been trying to change a hidden setting in a preferences file, but can’t get it to stick. Any idea what am I doing wrong? Alison Williams
Don’t be fooled into thinking that what you see and can change in the Property Lists in a Library/Preferences folder controls those settings. This is because apps generally don’t access those preferences directly, but through a server built into macOS named cfprefsd. That loads the settings into its cache, and may keep them there even when the application is no longer running. When you open one of those files and make changes, you won’t change the data that’s being cached by cfprefsd, and when it’s written back to the preferences file, that will overwrite any changes you made. The same can apply to files which appear to be broken, so you’ve thrown them into the Trash – they may simply be recreated by macOS.
There are two reliable ways to make changes to Preferences files so they stick: one is using the defaults command in Terminal’s command line, which is often used in recipes to change features in Finder. The other is to use an app that works with rather than against cfprefsd, such as Thomas Tempelmann’s free Prefs Editor (apps.tempel.org/index.php).
HARDWARE
PC SLOW TO REACH POST
I’ve just bought a new PC with MSI X470 Gaming Pro motherboard, and it’s lightning quick – except for one crucial aspect. It takes as long (around 20 seconds) to display the POST as it does to boot into Windows. Can you help eliminate this annoying delay? Frank Charlton
Sadly, this is normal behaviour on many MSI motherboards, but there are some things you can do to improve matters – one of which is to head into the BIOS, switch to the Boot tab and ensure ‘Boot mode select’ is set to UEFI as opposed to ‘Legacy + UEFI’. Frank had also installed a BIOS update to extend compatibility to the latest Ryzen 3000-series chips – unless you’re intending to install such a chip, we recommend avoiding this update as it’s also been known to slow down the POST process. Carrie Marshall
MICROSOFT STORE DVD PLAYER APP MISSING
I purchased the Windows DVD Player app from the Microsoft Store, paying $22.45 by PayPal. A few days ago, I was forced to reset my laptop, after which this app had disappeared. I’ve tried to get help from Microsoft support, but it’s been a very frustrating exercise. Can you please help? Will Jobling
Ordinarily, any software you’ve purchased through the Microsoft Store should be available to download again after reinstalling Windows. Open the Store, verify you’re logged into the correct account and then click the ‘…’ button and choose ‘My Library’ to view all previous purchases and installations. Select ‘Ready to install’ to filter the list further if necessary.
After Microsoft instructed Will to pay for the app again, he decided to look elsewhere. Luckily, armed with our advice he was more than happy
to install the completely free VLC Media Player.
(www.videolan.org/vlc) instead. Catherine Ellis
GAMING
BLUETOOTH AUDIO PROBLEM
When using my Bluetooth headphones and playing a game, the sound often cuts out when the game starts, having played perfectly well before opening the game, and on the game’s menu screen. Open the game, however, and after a short crackle it’s completely silent. This behaviour isn’t consistent with every game and makes me wonder if it’s something to do with DirectX. Any pointers?
Dean Vineen
We traced the cause of this problem to the Bluetooth headphones’ built-in
mic. Many users have complained of similar issues, and the workaround for those who don’t use the mic is to simply disable it: right-click the speaker icon in the Taskbar notification area and choose ‘Open Sound settings’. Scroll down to the Related Settings section and click ‘Sound Control Panel’. Switch to the Recording tab, right-click your Headset’s entry and choose Disable, which should resolve the problem. Nick Peers
INTERNET
CAN WI-FI BOOSTERS IMPROVE MY INTERNET CONNECTION?
I have seen numerous adverts relating to a Wi-Fi booster that claims to provide stronger broadband throughout the house. It also alleges to provide a stronger, faster broadband download speed. This suggests that broadband providers don’t give you the speed initially promised? Harold Haywood
Wi-Fi signal boosters have no effect on the speed of your internet connection as it’s delivered to your home by your broadband provider, but they can improve download speeds over Wi-Fi. To see how this works, first visit w w w. speedtest.net in your browser on a PC connected to your router modem via Ethernet cable. The results here provide the benchmark speed of your internet connection to your home.
Now repeat the test on a Wi-Fienabled device (if you’re on a mobile, install the free Speedtest app) at different points in your home. You’ll see the results vary, with download speeds dropping off the further you travel from your router. A Wi-Fi booster simply acts to relay signals to hard-toreach places in your home, boosting download speeds to the levels enjoyed by your wired devices. Alex Cox
WINDOWS
DUAL-BOOT WINDOWS 7 AND WINDOWS 10
The pressure to upgrade is mounting, but I’m not ready to give up on Windows 7 yet. I’d like to install a second SSD in my PC and install Windows 10 on a separate drive. Is there some way to choose which system to boot into on startup? Tim Kaye
First, install your new drive and boot into Windows 7. Press Win-R, type ‘diskmgmt.msc’ and hit Enter. Scroll down to locate the new drive. Rightclick the drive’s unallocated space and choose Initialise. Choose ‘GPT (GUID Partition Table)’ and click OK. Next, prepare your Windows installation media on DVD or USB flash drive using the Media Creation Tool (http://bit.ly/ msmctool). Following on from this, reboot with the installation media plugged in and opt to boot from the drive when prompted. Now simply follow through a regular Windows install process: choose custom when prompted and be sure to select your new drive as the target for the new installation. The installer will detect the presence of Windows 7 and will set up a dual-boot menu to allow you to switch between Windows 7 and 10 each time you start your PC. Ian Sleightholm
HARDWARE UPDATING DRIVERS
What’s your recommendation on updating drivers? Let Windows Update handle it, use a third-party tool like DriverBooster, or some other option? Ebi Baqri
Broadly speaking, if your computer is working as you expect it to, then it’s best to leave Windows Update in charge of driver updates. There are, of course, exceptions. If you’re a gamer, for example, then you’ll want the latest graphics drivers your card supports — install the latest one from Nvidia or AMD and it’ll will keep itself updated going forward. Another reason for sourcing and downloading drivers yourself is to troubleshoot problems you believe related to hardware. Start by visiting the support or downloads section of the relevant manufacturer – peripheral, component, motherboard or PC — to see if newer drivers are available (along with tools for keeping those drivers updated in the future). Tools like DriverBooster (www.iobit.com/en/driver-booster. php) come into their own for keeping all your drivers updated for performance reasons, but also come in handy when you’re struggling to find drivers for your system – for example, when your hardware manufacturer stops supporting a particular product. Nick Peers
WORD PROCESSING GET A SYSTEM-WIDE AUTOCORRECT TOOL
Can you suggest a free autocorrect tool that works outside of Microsoft Word?
Try Texter – visit bit.ly/texter-win for download links. Although 12 years old, it works perfectly in Windows 10. It’s a text substitution app that saves you countless keystrokes by replacing abbreviations with commonly used phrases you define. Here’s a quick guide to how it works.
After installing (or adding to your portable toolkit), launch Texter – it’ll appear in your Taskbar notification area. First steps is to right-click this icon and choose Manage Hotstrings to bring up the main Texter Management window.
Hotstrings work in the same way as autocorrect entries in Word. Click the ‘+’ button to create your first hotstring. Type the shortcut or frequently misspelled word into the Hotstring box and the correct text where directed.
You’ll see four options for triggers: pressing Enter, Tab, or Space, or ‘Instant’ which means the text is automatically changed as soon as it’s typed. We’d recommend ‘Instant’ for misspelled entries only; other shortcuts should have a trigger.
Open any program and type the misspelling or hotstring before (if applicable) clicking the trigger key. You’ll see the text magically change along with a sound effect. Choose Tools > Preferences to configure Texter further. Catherine Ellis