Fix PC software problems
WE’VE TAMED WINDOWS 10, YOUR HARDWARE AND THE INTERNET — NOW IT’S TIME TO TACKLE YOUR APPLICATIONS WITH THESE HANDY TIPS.
WHEN A PROGRAM controls a file association, it will always open when you double-click that file type. Windows 10 makes it harder for third-party programs to seize control of file associations, but it’s still possible, and every time a new Windows update is released, you can easily be tricked into handing back associations to Microsoft’s choice of app, not yours.
Start fixing problems by clicking ‘Start > Settings > Apps > Default apps’. From here, you can quickly switch or set defaults for email, maps, music, photos, video and web browser — just click the appropriate button and choose your desired app. Other universal changes can be made, too — start by clicking ‘Set defaults by app’ to access a list of all your programs. Click one to find out what defaults it has and to either allocate it all the defaults it wants or to select which ones it can have.
You can also choose individual applications for specific file types — either by clicking ‘Choose default applications by file type’ from this Settings dialogue, or by right-clicking one of the files in question in File Explorer and choosing ‘Open with > Choose program’.
MANAGE APPS BETTER
Have you noticed how there are no entries for some of Microsoft’s default apps under ‘Apps & features’? You can remove these apps via the PowerShell command prompt, but it’s fiddly. IObit Uninstaller ( www.iobit.com/en/
advanceduninstaller.php) lets you remove default Microsoft apps as well as other Windows Store-installed apps: skip prompts to add a tab before downloading the program, and untick ‘Install Advanced SystemCare...’ before clicking ‘Run Now’ to install it.
Once IObit Uninstaller has launched, navigate to Windows Apps and extend the Windows Apps section to remove the apps you don’t want — you can always reinstall them through the Windows Store later. While you’re here, use IOBit Uninstaller to more thoroughly uninstall programs, as well as apps from your PC, and click its toolbox icon to access a Forced Uninstall button that can help you get rid of programs that have ‘lost’ their uninstaller.
Speaking of the Windows Store, if you run into problems getting it to work, try a pair of Microsoft fix-it tools – browse to aka.ms/
diag_apps10 and aka.ms/diag_cssemerg7008 respectively to download and run them.
If you navigate to ‘Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features’, you’ll see it’s possible to move apps installed through the Windows Store to another drive or partition — handy if your main drive is an SSD and is running low on space. You can move regular desktop apps, too — for this, you’ll need a program called Steam Mover, which you can download from www.traynier.com.
If this sounds like too big a step — or you want to cut back on the number of installed apps altogether — then look at PortableApps ( www.portableapps.com). This handy platform lets you build, run and manage a collection of programs from a single folder, which you can store anywhere, even on a USB flash drive. No Registry entries mean these apps travel with you. Visit your favourite program websites and look for portable builds in the download section. Then download the zip file, extract the contents to a folder inside the PortableApps folder and open the PortableApps platform — your new program should be detected and added to the list under ‘Other’ (right-click the shortcut to move it to a different category).
TIDY YOUR DESKTOP
If you frequently have loads of program or document windows open, save time moving between them by organising them into tabs instead, just like your web browser. TidyTabs ( www.nurgo-software.com/products/
tidytabs) enables you to group related windows from different programs together — upgrade for US$9 to group more than three windows together at once, as well as other enhancements. TidyTabs works with Microsoft Office, but it can be a little glitchy — instead, investigate OfficeTab (US$29 after a 30-day free trial, www.office-tabs.com), which offers similar functionality, but only works with Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
Finally, struggling to get older apps to run in Windows 10? If you can’t source a newer version or an update (use alternativeto.net), try rightclicking the program shortcut or installer file and choosing ‘Troubleshoot compatibility’ to see if Windows can apply compatibility settings. If all else fails, and you have an older copy of Windows lying around, you can create a virtual machine using VirtualBox ( www.virtualbox.
org). Choose 32-bit for maximum compatibility and run your old application inside that instead. It works surprisingly well.