WebUser – 21 August 2019

Readers’ Tips

Send yourtips [email protected]– win aWeb User Back Issues disc! 21 Aug - 3 Sept 2019 71

screen beforeyou’veeven started
typing! Itreminds me of the old Internet
Explorer, whichwas laden withtoolbars.
There is a solution, though. Goto the
Chrome menu (this alsoworks in other
browsers) and click thezoom controlto
shrink the pageto 90%.Then click the
zoom controlat the bottom of theWord
web appto increase the documentto
110%.This shrinks the blue bar, menu
andtoolbar butkeeps the document
size the same.
Gareth Richardson, via email

GENERAL PC

Domore with your touchpad
I wonder if many otherreaders know that
you can do a lot more withyour laptop’s
touchpad inWindows 10. I already knew
thatyou could drag two fingers up and
down or from sideto sideto scroll
through a page. However, I didn’t know
thatyou canzoom in and outby
pinching, just like on a smartphone.You
can alsoswitch to a new desktop and
openCortana.To get started, search the
Start menufortouchpad settings,
then in the new window, under ‘Touch
and go’, select ‘Learn other gestures’to
see what elseyou can do.
Christian Mallory, via email

BROWSERS

GetEdge-style smooth
scrolling inChrome
Say whatyou like aboutEdge, its
scrolling isvery smooth. Ifyou download
SmoothScroll (bit.ly/smooth482) from
the ChromeWeb Store, however, you can
enjoy the same silky smooth scrolling in
Google Chrome.There are plenty of
optionsto suit your preferences, and the
developer has alsoreleased appsfor
Windows and Mac, soyou can benefit
from smooth scrollingeverywhere.
FrederickThomas, via email

SOFTWARE

See what’s goingon
with your computer
In Issue478 you advisedreaders not
to installWindows diagnostictool SIW.
In caseyou didn’t know, a great free
alternative is HWInfo (www.hwinfo.com).
Carl Waring, via Facebook

WEBSITES

Host a file onyour PC

For the uninitiated, hosting files ona

server canfeel like a lot offaffing about.

The website HostYo Self (hostyoself

.com) takes a lot of the agony out of the

processby lettingyou simply drag and

drop files onto the site. You can then

generate a URL that’s uniqueto the file

and share it with others.When someone

triesto download the file, the site

retrieves it fromyour computer. It only

works whenyour computer is running,

unlessyou use the trickiercommand-line

tool (bit.ly/host482), butfor basic

sharing, thiswebsite does the trick

quickly and efficiently.

Kelso, via email

SOFTWARE

Addspecific text snippets

in any application

If you’re sick of typing out the same

old sentences, try Beeftext (beeftext

.org). This clever tool adds pre-defined

text to pretty much any application,

including MicrosoftWord. In the

Combos panel, right-click and select

New. Giveyour new auto-text a name

and, in theKeyword section, typea

word that will activate the auto-text –

preferably an acronym or aword you

don’t use often. In the Snippet field,

type or paste whatyou want Beeftext

to add, such as an email signature.

Click OKto save. Now whenyou type

your keyword, thetool instantly

replaces it withyour text snippet.

Terry Warne,via email

BLUNDER OF THE FORTNIGHT

Have you managedto fix a PC-related disaster?

If so, please sendyour [email protected]

I had a problem withWindows 10 that

proved ratherexpensive. Every time I’d

use the ‘Background apps’ settingto

stop an app running in the background,

it would start again when I next booted

up my laptop. As someone who often

connectsmy laptopto the internet

usingmy phone as a hotspot, this

Windows 10 quirkstartedto become

a major drain onmy data – notto

mentionmy wallet! However, after

receivingyet another whopping

phone bill, I’vefound aRegistry hack

that solvesmy problem.

Open theRegistryEditor and locate:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\

SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows

Right-click and create a newkey called

AppPrivacy and, inside thisfolder,

crea te a DWORD (32-bit)Value. Call it

LetAppsRunInBackground. Double-

click this and set itsvalue to 2. Now

Stop apps running in the background

GENERAL PC

whenyou press OK andrestart your

computer,your apps will no longer

run in the background. It may be

a bittoo la te for me, but I hope it

saves someone else’s data.

Georgie Hannan, via email

Hack the Regist ryto stop apps runnin g

in the background for good

This reader says HWInfo is a better
diagno stic tool than SIW – and it’s free

Host Yo Self is probably the easiest way to

turn your computer into a file se rver

Take the hassle out of typing common

phrase s by leaving it to Beeftext