GET EVEN MORE FROM YOUR HARDWARE
10 Fix problems with your PC’S memory When a PC starts behaving erratically – crashing, freezing or showing the ‘blue screen of death’, for example – you can run a somewhat obscure system tool called Windows Memory Diagnostic.
Look under Administrative Tools in Godmode and double-click ‘Diagnose your computer’s memory problems’ to launch the tool, then click ‘Restart now and check for problems (recommended)’ (see screenshot right).
Your PC will restart and carry out a series of tests on your memory. Once that’s done, it will boot to Windows as normal and show a report of any problems identified. If you don’t see a report, no errors were detected. If you want to see the report anyway, you can find it in Windows’ Event Viewer (see tip 14). If errors are discovered, you’ll need to replace the RAM in your PC. Check your manufacturer’s instructions to find out what type of memory modules you need before you buy (or see our ‘Don’t pay for PC Repairs’ cover feature in Issue 483).
11 Calibrate your display A poorly calibrated display can make text hard to see, make photos less photogenic and may cause you eye strain. Windows has a screen-calibration tool, with a direct link in Godmode – simply double-click ‘Calibrate display colour’ in the Display section.
This launches a full-screen tool designed to walk you through the process of making sure colours are accurate. Click the Next button in the bottom-right corner and work your way through the various steps, using the sliders to change gamma and colour settings when prompted, and using your monitor’s brightness and contrast settings to improve the image further. Once you’ve finished you’ll be able to compare your current calibration to the previous one and should notice a big difference.
If you tick the Start Cleartype Tuner option before clicking Finish, you can also fine-tune the way text is displayed on your screen and improve its readability. Again, work your way through the steps, selecting which text looks best to you each time you are prompted. 12 Improve your PC screen’s colour settings If your screen still doesn’t look right after calibrating it, it may be possible to improve it using Windows’ Colour Management tool. This lets you select specially created colour profiles and assign them to your devices, including your screen, printer and scanner.
To change the colour profile for your screen, double-click ‘Change advanced colour management settings for displays, scanners and printers’ (in Godmode’s Colour Management section). In the window that opens, make sure your screen is selected in the Device dropdown menu at the top, then tick the ‘Use my settings for this device’ option. Now click Add (bottom left), select a different profile to try (see screenshot above), then click OK. Highlight your new profile in the list and click ‘Set as Default Profile’. If you decide you don’t like it, try another or select your previous one in the list and click ‘Set as Default Profile’.
If you see an error message when trying to select a profile, it may be for a different type of device (such as a printer), so try another. If you don’t see many profiles listed when you click Add, you may need to download additional ones. Adobe, for example, has a few free International Color Consortium (ICC) profiles available at www.snipca.com/22782. Click ‘ICC profile download for End Users’, then Accept, ‘Proceed to Download’ and click Download Now. Save the file to your PC and unzip it.
Back in the Colour Management tool, click the All Profiles tab, then click Add and browse to your unzipped download. Open the RGB folder, press Ctrl+a to select all, then click Add. Now try selecting a different profile again and you should have more choices available.
13Choose a convenient time to run maintenance tasks Nowadays, many tasks needed to keep your PC running smoothly, such as installing updates, happen automatically. The problem is that the default time – usually 2am – isn’t necessarily the most convenient. Most PCS are switched off at that time, so changing this to a time when your computer is on, but not being used, is more desirable.
In Windows 10 only, Godmode offers a quick way to customise your maintenance schedule. Double-click ‘Change Automatic Maintenance settings’ in Godmode’s ‘Security and Maintenance’ section, then select the time you want from the ‘Run maintenance tasks daily at’ dropdown menu. Tick the ‘Allow scheduled maintenance to wake up my computer at the scheduled time’ option, then click OK. 14Check for hidden PC health problems Many Windows errors and alerts remain hidden, unless you know how to access the Event Viewer. To do this via Godmode simply double-click ‘View event logs’ under Administrative Tools. Sadly, the Event Viewer’s interface is unwieldy and pretty impenetrable. But it’s still useful when trying to diagnose what might be stopping your PC working smoothly.
Click Windows Logs on the left, then System to see a list of recorded ‘events’ – errors, warnings and general information – dating back over several months. Scroll through and click any flagged as Error or Critical (see screenshot below). In the lower pane you’ll see information about the event, including an event ID, which you can use in a Google search to help diagnose your problems.
To find something specific, such as the Memory Diagnostic report we mentioned earlier, click Windows Logs, System, then Find, type a keyword and click Find Next. 15Find out how stable your PC is Godmode offers an alternative way to view errors and other PC events. Open the ‘View reliability history’ tool in the ‘Security and Maintenance’ (Windows 10) or Action Center (Windows 7) section of Godmode. Warnings, program crashes, Windows failures and other events will be displayed in a chart showing how reliable your PC has been over a particular period.
This is a handy way to gauge your PC’S stability over time, but it lacks the details (including event ID codes) provided by Event Viewer (see previous tip). You can, however, click ‘Save reliability history’ to export all the events recorded to a file that a technician may be able to use to help diagnose your problem. 16Create a password-reset drive Forgetting a password for a website is annoying, but you can usually reset your login by clicking the ‘Forgot password?’ (or similar) link. Forgetting the password for your Windows account, however, isn’t as simple to fix. To help, Windows offers the option to create a special passwordreset drive that you can use, should this ever happen to you – and Godmode makes it easy to find the required tool.
Insert a USB stick or SD card, then click ‘Create a password reset disk’ under User Accounts and follow the instructions. Select the drive and enter your current password when prompted.
If you forget your password, insert this reset disk and start your PC. Then click the ‘Reset password’ option on the login screen and follow the steps. Note that in Windows 8 and 10, this only works if you’re using a local account to log into your PC. If you use a Microsoft account, reset your password by following the instructions at www.snipca.com/22783.
17Re- enable System Restore
It’s always advisable to create a system restore point before making any big changes to your PC (including when you install new software or tweak your system settings). But System Restore isn’t the easiest tool to open, and Windows 10 leaves it disabled by default. To access it quickly, click ‘Create a restore point’ in Godmode’s System section.
If you’re using Windows 10, you may see Protection listed as Off. Click your C drive, then click Configure and select the ‘Turn on system protection’ option (see screenshot above). Use the slider to tell Windows how much hard-drive space to allow System Restore to use (we suggest about 10 per cent), then click OK. Now click Create, name your restore point and click Create again.