RESTORE what the Creators Update removed
While Microsoft added plenty of new features to Windows 10 with the Creators Update, it removed a few too. Mike Plant reveals the features that fell by the wayside and explains how to restore them
On the whole we’ve been impressed by the changes made in the Creators Update. We’re already using the new ‘Night light’ mode to give our eyes a break when we use our PC at night. The Dynamic Lock is a handy tool for automatically locking our PC should we forget to. And we’ve only just started to scratch the surface of what we can do with Paint 3D (see page 35 for our Workshop on it).
But, where Microsoft has given with one hand, it has taken away with the other – either by removing or switching off useful features, or by failing to deliver on promised tools that were meant to be central to the Creators Update. Here we’ll explain how to restore the functions that were removed, and give you an insight into features that Microsoft failed to get ready in time.
Unlock Windows 10’s font-size restrictions
Microsoft has decided we no longer need to change the font size of error messages, title bars and desktop pop-ups. To restore some control over onscreen text, try System Font Size Changer ( www.snipca. com/24157). Click Download at the bottom of the page (to the right of the version number), then click Run (or double-click the downloaded ‘changesize. exe’ file). If a ‘Windows protected your PC’ message appears, click ‘More info’, then ‘Run anyway’.
Click Yes when prompted to save your default files, click any of the listed font types (from ‘Title bar’ to Tooltip), move the slider from left to right to increase font size, then click Apply when you’re happy. Your PC will log you out. Log back in to see your new font size (see screenshot above).
Replace ‘Reading list’ with Pocket
‘Reading list’ is an Edge feature that lets you save web pages to read offline. It still works in the Creators Update, but won’t for long. To access it, open Edge, click the Hub button (three horizontal lines at the top right), then the ‘Reading list’ button (second from the left). Microsoft has confirmed it will be removed in an upcoming Windows update (though not when), which is a shame because ‘Reading list’ was genuinely useful.
The good news is that you can salvage its best features by using the ‘Save to Pocket’ Edge extension ( www.snipca. com/24403). Install the extension, create a Pocket account at www.getpocket.com, then click the Pocket icon to save any web page. Make Pocket’s icon easier to access by adding it to Edge’s address bar. Click the Menu icon (three dots at the top right), Extensions, ‘Save to Pocket’, then move the ‘Show button next to the address bar’ to On (see screenshot above).
Restore missing lock screen images
‘Windows Spotlight’ is the name Microsoft gives to those stunning images of wildlife and landscapes that appear on your Windows 10 lock screen (see screenshot above right). While this feature wasn’t intentionally purged by Microsoft, a glitch in the Creators Update has removed the feature from many PCS.
If your PC is one of these, you must first turn Spotlight off. To do this, right-click your desktop, then click Personalize, ‘Lock screen’ (on the right),
then select Picture in the Background dropdown menu. Next, open File Explorer, click View, then tick the ‘Hidden items’ box in the Show/hide section.
Next, navigate to: C:\users\[your username]\appdata\local\packages\ Microsoft.windows.contentdelivery Manager\localstate\assets, press Ctrl+a on your keyboard to select all the files in the Assets folder, then press the Delete key to delete them. Close File Explorer, return to the Background dropdown menu, but this time select ‘Windows spotlight’. Press the Windows Key+l to lock your PC and you should now see the return of Windows Spotlight images.
Re-enable Adobe Flash Player support in Edge
Increasing numbers of websites are abandoning multimedia web player Flash in favour of the newer and more secure alternative HTML5. It comes as no surprise, then, that Microsoft has decided to switch off support for Flash in its Edge browser.
That said, there are still high-profile TV services – including ITV Hub and All 4 – that need the Flash Player to work. To view these in Edge you’ll need to re-enable support for Flash.
To do so, open Edge, click the Menu icon (the three dots at the top right), Settings, ‘View advanced settings’, then slide the Use Adobe Flash Player slider to the right (see screenshot below). At least enabling Flash this way keeps it up to date at all times (and therefore more secure), because it automatically updates whenever Edge does.
PROMISED FEATURES THAT FAILED TO ARRIVE
Every May, Microsoft hosts its Build conference, where it reveals some of its plans to software developers around the world. Last year it promised all kinds of intriguing features for the Creators Update that failed to materialise. Here’s a progress report on those missing features, which have been delayed until the next big Windows 10 update due in the autumn (called ‘Fall Creators Update’).
My People app
My People gives you direct access to your favourite contacts via the Quick Access menu, letting you send text messages and make Skype calls with just a couple of clicks. This feature is expected in the autumn, though Windows 10 Insiders can already access it in its current beta release.
Groove Music Maker
This appears to be an app designed to let you record and edit music you play yourself, or that you’ve sampled. From what we’ve seen it looks very similar to Apple’s popular Garageband app for IOS, which can only be good news for Windows users. It made an even briefer appearance at Build 2017 than it did at Build 2016, which means it’s still coming, but may not arrive in the Fall Creators Update. In fact it could land at any time as a Windows Store app, so we will keep you posted.
Pick up where you left off
This feature remembers what apps you had open across computers, phones and tablets, so you can resume using them if you switch device. It works with Office files too, which means you can edit a Word document on your tablet in a cafe, and that same edited Word document will open at the exact same place you left off when you return to it on your PC at home. Microsoft reiterated its intention to provide this feature in the autumn, with it being renamed ‘Timeline’. It will be expanded to remember the websites and emails you have open.