98 JANUARY2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 383
GETTING OLDHARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TO RUN
One of the biggest issues that people
moving from Windows 7toWindows 10
will encounter is getting old hardware
and softwaretowork. One option is
to virtualiseyour old Windows 7
computer,and still run it under
Windows 10. With Seamless mode,
Windows 7applications feel like part
of Windows 10,but it’snot aperfect
solution, andyou end up dedicating a
lot of physical resources to do this.
Thereare alternatives. Old software,
including drivers forprinters and
scanners, may rununder Windows 10
if you use thecompatibilitymode.
Just right-click the program that you
want to run and select Troubleshoot
compatibility.Inthe dialog box that comes up,
select Troubleshoot program, thenselect
‘The program worked in earlier versions of
Windows but won’tinstall or run now’,and
click Next. Now select Windows 7fromthelist
that appears, and click Next again.
Click Test this program and, if thereare no
problems click Next, then choose,‘Yes, save
thesesettingsfor this program’.You
can now try to run this application or
driver again. If you run intoproblems
or the application still won’trun,you’re
out of luck with this method.
Scanner owners may find
themselves better offbuying and
installing Vuescan (www.hamrick.com),
which comeswith drivers for many
old scanners. Youcan download a
free trial, after whichthe software
costs $50 (around £40).
Unfortunately,there’snoguaranteed
method of getting allhardwareand softwareto
work, so if you’ve upgraded to Windows 10,
you may need to bite the bullet and upgrade to
morerecent peripherals and software.
SEARCH EVERYWHERE
Thanks to the latest Windows 10 update,
theIndex nowscansyour entirecomputer,
so you can search for files anywhere. Just
open up the Startmenuand start typing to
find what you’relooking for.Itcan take a
littlewhile to build the full index,soexpect
results to improve over time as Windows
scans your entireharddisk.
CLIPBOARD HISTORY
If you use copy and paste alot,Clipboard
History is for you. With your cursor
positioned anywhereonthe
Windows desktop, press
Windows-V and you’ll see a
popup message telling you, “Can’t
show history”. Click Turn on and
you’ll enable Clipboardhistory.
In future, press Windows-V to
paste and you’ll see apopup box
showing you your recent
clipboardselections: justselect
theone you want to paste.
Pressing Ctrl-V will stillpaste
themost recent item.
ABOVE:Virtual
Desktops give youa
lot more working
space for your
Windows10PC
RIGHT:Clipboard
Historyisgreat if
you’realways copying
and pasting
LEFT:It maybepossible to getyour old
software to run on anew computer
THEEND OF WINDOWS 7?
