Web User - UK (2019-10-02)

Your Top Tips

Ourpick of th ebe stadvice fromour

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70 2 - 15 October 2019

NETWORKING

Curb your data usage

Most people have unlimited broadband

these days but for those that don’t – or if

you are curious about how much data

you use – open the

Settings app in

Windows 10 and

click Network&

Internet. Goto the

‘Data usage’ section

and, under

Overview, you’ll see

the amount of data

usedby your PC in

the last 30 days. You

may be shockedby

the results!

Below this is an

optionto reduce

background data

usage ifyou needto

cut down. I find that

limiting background

data speeds upmy computer’s startupa

little because it’s not working as hard

updating andsyncing programs.

Chris Hayes, via email

GENERAL PC

Showstartupprograms

Most people know thatreducing the

number of programs that automatically

start withWindows makesyour PCfaster

and morereliable.You can useTask

Managerto identify some of these

programs, but it only shows a fraction of

what actually loads.Autoruns (bit.ly/

auto485) is oftenrecommendedbyWeb

User, but that goesto the otherextreme

and displays so much information that

it’s hardto understand.

I’ve found atool that sits happily

between the two – it provides more than

the basics butwon’t overloadyou with

unnecessary information. EFStartup

Manager (bit.ly/efsu485) shows what

starts withWindows and where in the

Registry it loads from, but without

overwhelmingyou with data. I use the

portable 64-bitversion.

It triggers an ‘unknown app’warning

fromWindows SmartScreen when run,

but this can be ignored as I haven’t found

any problem with it.

Charles Roberts, via email

EMAIL

Bulk delete quickly in Outlook

for Android

I always usedto long-

pressto start the

procedurefor

deleting multiple

emails in the Outlook

for Android app (bit

.ly/outlook485), but it

turns out there’sa

slightly quickerway.

Just tap the circle

displaying the

sender’s initials and it

will turn into a tick,

indicating that it’s

been selected.You

can thencontinue

your bulk deletion in

the normalway.

JohnBogart, via email

BROWSERS

Blockmalicious websites as

you browse

Malwarebytes’ new Chromeextension

Browser Guard (bit.ly/malwarebytes485).

has justcome out of beta and is

designedto block maliciouswebsites

before they can harmyour PC. It also

works to remove pop-ups, online scams

and other net nasties. Malwarebytes also

claims that using thetool speeds upyour

browsingby blocking all those clickbait

ads and trackers. I absolutely love it.

There’s also a Firefox versionavailable

(bit.ly/bytesfox485).

George Bates, via email

TOP TIP

I read with interest the Slideto Shut

Down tip fromRoger Stott in Issue 482

(bit.ly/webuser482). To makeyour own

one-click shutdown, create a shortcut

to ‘C:\Windows\System32\shutdown

.exe -s -t 00’, then right-click the

shortcut and select Properties. Click

Change Icon and select thered button

with a power off icon. Click Apply, OK.

If you right-click this shutdown

shortcut and pin itto the taskbar,you

can delete the one onyour desktop.

I’ve used this one-click shutdown since

Windows 10 came out. Itworks with all

Create your own one-click shutdown

GENERAL PC

versions ofWindows, right backto XP.

Paul King, via email

See what’s loading automatically with

Windows using EF Startup Manager

How much internet
data are you using?

A quick, one-click way to clos e down

your computer

Back

Issues

disc

winner

Safety first with th e new Malwarebytes

browser tool

A tap is qu icker

than a long-press