Wetellyouwhatsoftware&appstouse
WHATSHOULD
IDOWNLOAD?
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[email protected]19HowcanIaccess
ControlPanelsettings
moreeasily?
Q
IoftenmakechangestoWindowsthroughthe
ControlPanel–forexample,uninstalling
programsandadjustingmymouse.ButWindows
11 makesitmoredifficulttoopentheControlPanelwhenI
wanttochangesomething.Isthereaprogramthatmakesit
easiertoaccessControlPanelsettings?
StephenMaclaineA
ThequickestwaytoopentheControlPanelin
Windows1 1 istoclickthesearchbuttononthe
taskbar,typecontrolpanelandselectOpen.You
canthenright-clicktheControlPanel’s taskbariconand
choose‘Pintotaskbar’soyoucanaccessiteasilyinfuture.
However,abetter
option,whichsaves
youhavingtoclick
throughthevarious
sectionsoft he
ControlPaneltofind
aspecificsetting,isto
installafreeprogram
calledExtended
GodMode(www.
snipca.com/4 0549 ).
Thisgivesyouinstant
accesstomorethan
200Contr ol Panel
settings,aswellas
hard-to-findWindows AdminTools ,and usefullypresents
themin asingle, alphabeticallist.
Simply download andrun theprogram (becareful not
to clickanadvert instead of thedownload link, whichis
near thebottomofthe page), andyou’llsee thefull list
of options.Double-clickone to open therelevant Control
Panelsetting.You can save frequently usedoptions as
‘favourites’ by right-clicki ng themandchoosin g‘Addto
Favorites’ (see screenshot), sear ch forspecificsettings and
pinthe tool to your taskbar.
Extended GodModeworks with allversions ofWindows,
from7to11, but bear in mind that Microsoftnow prefers
youtouse theSettings appinstead of theContr ol Panel,
whichiswhy thelatterisnow tucked away.PC CLEAN-UP TOOLANTIVIRUSSOFTWAREWiseDisk Cleaner 10.8. 2
http://www.snipca.com/ 40547
What you need:Windows 7 ,8.1, 1 0or
WiseDiskCleanerwas
anotherofyourfavourite
programs of 20 21,and this
latest versio naddseven
more useful features.The
most notable addition is a
SmartOptimize optionfor
SSDs,whichyou can now
findonthe DiskDefrag ta b.
As we explaininour ‘KeepyourSSD running fast ’feature on
page 60,you shouldn’tdefragmentSSDslikestandardhard
drives,but ‘optimising’ themhelpsfreeupspace, whichist he
purposeoft hisnew feature(though itwon’tworkin
Windows7). Wise Disk Cl eanercan also nowdelete old
WindowsDeliveryOptimiz ationfiles andDirec tX Shader
Cachefiles (see screensh ot)–whichpreviouslycould onlybe
removedusing Windows’ ownDiskClean -up tool. Another
change involves moving theoptiontoclean theWinSxS
backupfolder(whichcontainsimportant files)fromthe
program’sCommonClean er listtoamorelogicallocation on
its Slimming System tab–toprevent unnece ssary clean-ups.
MalwarebytesFree 4.5.
http://www.snipca.com/ 40515
What you need:Windows 7 ,8.1, 1 0or
Malwarebytes’latestfree
downloadautomatically
optsyouintoa14-day
trialofthepaid-for
edition.Thisisusefulfor
checkingouttheprogram’s
fullsetoffeatures,but
meansyou’llbetold
“you’renotfullyprotected”
(seescreenshot)ifyoudon’t pay£30aftertwoweeksofuseand
bepromptedtoupgrade.Still,becauseitdoesn’t clashwith
yourexistingantivirussoftware,thefreeMalwarebytes
remainsapowerfulandreliablewaytoscanformalware
manuallyandversion4.5.0offersenhanceddetectionand
speedierscans.NewoptionsinthePremiumeditioninclude
WindowsUpdatemonitoring,improvedfirewallmonitoring
(previouslyitwronglydetectedsomefirewallstobeturned
off)andaprogressbarthatshowsyouwhentheprogramis
installingupdates.Butit’sthereal-timeblockingofsecurity
threatsandtheabilitytoschedulescansthatjustifypayingfor
Malwarebytesandusingitasyourmainmeansofprotection.
Issue 623 –1February