Windows Photo Gallery
Margaret was looking to get Windows Photo Gallery on her Windows 10 PC. This was part of Windows Essentials and has been unavailable since 10th Jan 2017. Windows 10 comes with the Microsoft Photos app, which can also be downloaded from the Microsoft Store. The Photos app can be used to view and edit photos.
Inserting Standard Phrases in Word
I described this in the last blog as I wasn’t sure of the answer at the last meeting, so we had a quick look through that explanation of using the 3 solutions I found - AutoText, AutoCorrect and Macros. For more details, refer to last time's blog:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2020_09_06_archive.html
We tried saving phrases in different fonts using AutoText, and this worked, so you might save your name in a script font to insert at the bottom of a letter, for example.
iOS/iPadOS
14
Last time,
I mentioned that Apple would be releasing version 14 of its mobile operating
systems in the coming weeks. Well, with
no prior announcement, they released it on Wednesday 16th Sept.
As I mentioned, this introduces the ability to put widgets on the Home Screens. Note, on the iPad, this is only possible in landscape orientation, other wise they are confined to the Today View (swipe right from the first Home Screen).
iOS 14
(but NOT iPadOS 14) introduces the App Library. For those who have ever used an Android
device, this is rather like the App Drawer. Essentially it means you no longer have to
have all your apps on the Home Screens.
See this MacWorld article for a full explanation:-
https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/iosapps/app-library-ios-14-3792464/
Another new feature allows browsers other than Safari to be set as the default. The default browser would be used, for example, if you tapped a web link in an email to open that link. To change Chrome to the default browser, go to Settings, select an installed browser (e.g. Safari, Chrome. etc), Default Browser App and select Chrome.
For more
details, see this Wired article:-
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-iphone-ios-14-ipad-os-14-new-features/
Will your iPhone/iPad update to version 14? This CNet article includes a list of the supported hardware:-
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/get-the-ios-14-and-ipados-14-update-on-your-iphone-and-ipad-heres-how-to-now/
Update iPhone/iPad via iTunes
Tony raised updating your Apple device using iTunes on a PC. This can help if your device does not have sufficient storage space to perform the update. This Apple site explains how to update Apple mobile devices, including by using iTunes on a PC (or Finder on a Mac):-
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204204
Android App Drawer
The Android App Drawer is where you find all the apps installed on an Android device. It can be accessed either by tapping the App Drawer icon (which is an array of dots) or by swiping up from the bottom of the Home Screen. This articles gives you a bit more detail:-
https://www.guidingtech.com/what-app-drawer-android/
On an Android device, it has always been possible to have just a small subset of apps on your Home Screen(s), but you can access all the apps via the App Drawer. As discussed above, the new App Library on iPhones (but not iPads) makes a similar approach possible on iPhones with iOS 14.
Storage Space on Windows Laptop
To figure out how much space you have on the storage drive on your Windows PC, launch File Explorer, click on This PC on the left (if you don't the navigation pane on the left, go to the View tab, click on Navigation pane, and click Navigation pane in the drop-down menu). You should see a graphical representation of the space on your hard drive (if you don't see the graphical view, click on the View tab and select Tiles in the Layout section). You can right-click on the drive and select Properties, General for details on free and used space.
Disk Clean-Up
If you want to free up storage on your drive on a Windows 10 PC, you can use the Disk Clean-Up app. Just click Start or press the Windows Key and begin typing Disk Clean-up - you should see the app highlighted in the search results - press Enter or click on it to launch it. Select the drive you want to clean, typically "C:". Select some or all the options under Files to delete and click OK. If you click the Clean up system files button before clicking OK, you will see further files to delete.
Windows Update Problems
Phil has a PC which was not updating. You can run the Troubleshooter to try to solve Update (or other) problems. To do this go to Start, Settings, Update & Security, Troubleshoot, Additional Troubleshooters and select Windows Update, Run the troubleshooter. The troubleshooters don't fix everything, but they are always worth a try.
Windows 10
- October 2020 Update
The next
“feature update” for Windows 10, version 20H2, will likely be released in
October. For those who already have
version 2004, the update will be similar to the monthly “Cumulative Updates” so
it will be a fairly quick process. For
anyone with an earlier version of Windows 10, the 20H2 update will be a
much bigger process. There is
little of note in the new update.
Storage
Drive Types
Just to
pick up on something from the last meeting, although I didn’t mention it in the
blog. We touched on the physical storage
drive formats for PCs and mentioned 3.5 inch and 2.5 inch drives. The former being a common hard drive size in
larger tower PCs, while the latter are found in laptops and smaller desktop
boxes. 2.5 inch drives can be rotating
magnetic disks (i.e. Hard Disk Drives) or solid state devices.
SSD (Solid State Drives) are still more expensive than their HDD (Hard
Disk Drive) counterparts, but that price differential is gradually reducing. SSDs operate at higher speed than HDDs and can, therefore, improve system performance.
I thought it worth mentioning that even the 2.5 inch form factor is too large for many modern, ultra slim laptops and these often use M.2 SSDs instead. M.2 is a stick of memory – lengths vary according to capacity. While SSDs use the SATA interface (like their HDD equivalents), M.2 can also use the faster PCIe interface. The fastest M.2 drives support a protocol called NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express). However, beware that some M.2 memory still uses the SATA interface, meaning it would have no speed advantage over a conventional 2.5 inch SATA SSD (although remember, this is still faster than a HDD).
So,
storage technology has become more complicated.
This article explains things in more detail:-
https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/reviews/ssd-buying-guide,5602.html
If you
would prefer a video explanation, have a look at this:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvfIeTieXOI
Virus Scanning on Windows 10
We had a brief discussion on this. I have added a document to my web site called "Virus Scanning with Malwarebytes in Windows 10" which explains using both Windows Defender and Malwarebytes for virus scanning. See the Hints & Tips section of my web site:-
bit.ly/rogersdocs
Using Zoom
I have
added a document on Joining a Zoom Meeting to my web site. See the Hints & Tips section of my web site:-
bit.ly/rogersdocs
It covers
using Zoom on a PC, Mac, mobile device and Chromebook. I hope to add a further document on how to
set up a Zoom meeting in the near future.
Taking a Screenshot on an iPhone/iPad
We briefly discussed this. See this Apple article for more:-
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT200289
Printer Inks
If you want to print top quality pictures, I would recommend using genuine ink cartridges and photo paper from the same manufacturer as the printer. In a lot of cases for general printing, you can save money by using compatible inks. However, using compatible ink will technically void the warranty on the printer and, in some cases, the printer may not accept compatibles.
I have recently used StinkyInk (stinkyink.com). Rob mentioned a recent Which? report on ink cartridges and he emailed the details after the meeting which I have shared with all the attendees.
Next Session
Wed 14th
October 2020 at 2 pm by Zoom.
