Windows Help & Advice – May 2019

2 Refine selection

You’re unlikely to get it perfectly into

position. Switch to the Move selection tool

(the white arrow) and use the drag handles –

keeping [Shift] held down – to adjust the size.

You can also click and drag the selection until

it’s perfectly in place.

1 Basic selection

Choose the ellipsis selection tool from

the Tools dialog box. Position the cursor to

the top left of the area that you wish to

keep, then press and hold [Shift] as you

click and drag to create and move the

circle into position.

SCAN, CUT OUT
ANDROTATEOLD
VINYLLABELS

Q I used to use MGI PhotoSuite
4.0 on my old Windows XP PC
to scan and cut out scanned labels
of my record collection. Can you
recommend something that
works in Windows 10?
GillesValiquette

Cat’s solution
Most free image editors
have the tools you need,
including Paint.NET
(www.getpaint.net). Open the file
or scan it into the program via File

Acquire, then follow this guide...

Quickfirequestions

Mayank’s solution

This could be down to

any number of things.

Start by verifying that

your system files haven’t become

corrupt somehow: right-click the

Start button and choose ‘Command

Prompt (admin)’ or ‘PowerShell

(admin)’, then click Yes when

prompted. When the command

prompt window appears type sfc /

scannow and press [Enter] on your

PC keyboard to proceed.

Wait for System File Checker to

complete its scan. If it finds some

corrupt files that it can’t fix, type

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /

RestoreHealth and press [Enter]

• wait again while replacement files
  are downloaded to replace the
  corrupted ones.
  If this fails, consider biting the
  bullet and creating a new user
  account – if that fixes your Start
  menu problem, you will now need
  to migrate your files and settings
  from your old account to the new
  one using your current File History
  backup: go to Settings > Update &
  Security > Backup in your new user

Is there a quick and dirty way

I can prevent Microsoft

installing the 1803 update on

my Windows 10 Home PC

before it’s properly ready?

Neil Stanton

Set your network connection

• Ethernet or Wireless – to a
  Metered connection by going
  to Settings > Network &
  Internet > ‘Change connection
  properties’. This should block
  the update until you’re ready
  to install it (flick the switch
  back to Off).

I need to protect my PCs from

occasional power cuts. Which

Uninterruptible Power Supply

(UPS) do you recommend?

Bill Davison

We’ve been protecting two

computers (and a QNAP NAS)

with an APC Back-UPS

BE700G-UK for a few years now

• it provides 405W of power,
  enough to ensure all your
  devices have time to shut
  down properly.

How do I stop receiving

preview builds of Windows 10?

Louise Craven

Go to Settings > Update &

Security > Windows Insider

Programme and flick the ‘Stop

getting preview builds’ switch

to On. You’ll have to wait until

the next major release of

Windows at which point you’ll

revert to normal updates.

‘Windows detected a hard disk

problem’. I’ve performed both a

Windows 7 and Macrium backup

and have recovery media for both.

Can you advise me further –

including which drive to replace it

with, if necessary?

SimonJethwa

Cat’s solution

Sadly, this is a definite

indication the drive is

failing. Simon confirmed

this by interrogating the drive’s

SMART attributes with the help of

Speccy (www.ccleaner.com/

speccy). Despite the fact that

individual attributes were listed

as Good at the time, it was still

markedwitha warning,linked

tothegrowingnumberofthe

‘ReallocatedSectorsCount’figure.

Withina fewdays– aswediscussed

possibledrive-replacementoptions

• theSMARTattributehadswitched
  toBad,whileWindowsstarted
  hangingatshutdown.
  Thankfully,Simonhasbeen
  diligentabouttakingbackups,so
  he’swell-covered.Ashe’splanning
  toreplacehis10-year-oldPCnext
  year,he’sdecidedtoavoidtheextra
  costofa SSDdrivefornow,instead
  choosingtoreplacethefailing
  500GBdrivewitha WesternDigital
  Blue1TBdriveforunder£40online.
  Onceit arrives,hecantakeonefinal
  driveimageusingMacrium,swap
  outthefailingdriveforthenew
  one,andthenrestoretheimageto
  thenewdriveusingtheMacrium
  rescuemedia.

Windows

FAULTYSTARTMENU

Q After updating to the latest

version of Windows 10 I can

no longer open the Start menu –

clicking the button has no effect.

How can I fix this?

Sophie Ashworth

RESTORE PROFILE

Use File History to

transfer across

files and settings

to a new user.

66 |^ |^ May 2019