Web User - UK (2019-11-13)

Can you help? Email [email protected] – win a Back Issues disc! 13 - 26 November 2019^69

Useyourbrowsertogetextensionsthat

arenolongerin theWebStore

Readers’ Helpdesk

Can you help your fellow readers with their

computer problems? Send your questions and

answers to [email protected]

SOFTWARE

Get up-to-date

scanner software

Q

I wonder if you and your team can

offer advice on free or low-cost

scanner software. I own an Epson

Perfection 2480 Photo, but the

manufacturer isn’t providing a driver for

Windows 10 64-bit,renderingthe

scanneruseless.I havetrieda coupleof

alternativedriverswithoutsuccess,

includingonethatleavesa watermark

thatonlydisappearsif youpay.My

scanneronlygetsoccasionaluse,soI

can’tjustifybuyinga newoneandthe

carbonfootprintthatinvolves.

Keith,viaemail

A

Sorryyou’rehavingtroublewith

Epson’slackofsupport.Forfree

scannersoftware,we’drecommend

tryingNAPS2(www.naps2.com), whichis

freeandopen-source,soyoushouldn’t

havetodealwithany

sneakywatermarks.

Therearesome

otherthingsyou

couldtrytomake

sureyourscanner

is running

properly– it’s

alwaysworth

checkingdrivers

forolder

operating

systems,suchas

theWindows7 drivers,andsomepeople

have had success using drivers for similar

scanner models. However, there’s no

guarantee that this will work.

You could also try scanning in Linux,

since Epson still has a driver for your

scanner for that operating system.

Steve Clark, Features Writer, Web User

BROWSER TOOLS

Re-download discontinued

extensions

Q

Several times now, I’ve downloaded

Chrome extensions only to find

they’ve been removed from the Web

Store– typically,becausethey

circumventadvertsandotherthings

Googleprobablydoesn’tlike.WhileI still

havetheseinstalledonmydesktopPC,

I’dalsoliketohavethemonmylaptop.

Is thereanywayofdoingthisor,once

they’redeletedfromtheWebStore,are

theyessentiallylostforever?

ArthurFalk,viaemail

A

We can relate to this one, Arthur:

we’ve also found some of our

favourite browser tools have vanished.

However, there are a couple of ways you

can add removed extensions to a

different computer. The easiest way is to

see if they’re available at Crx4Chrome

(www.crx4chrome.com).

The trickier method is to type

chrome://version into your address

bar. Here, you’ll find the profile path,

which, once you navigate to it in Explorer,

has a folder called Extensions. This

contains all your installed extensions,

identifiedbyIDcode.Tofindoutwhich

extensionis which,gotochrome://

extensions, selecta browsertool,then

notetheIDcodein theaddressbar.Now,

youcancopythelatestversionofthe

extensionovertoyournewcomputer.

Next,gotochrome://extensions,

turnon‘Developermode’,andchoose

‘Loadunpacked’togettheextension

running.

Steve Clark, Features Writer, Web User

Q

In answertoAngelaLiddle’squestionregarding

powerlineadapters(bit.ly/webuser483), I usethe

DevolodLAN500.They’refasterthanWi-Fi,andnearly

asfastasEthernetcables,soif you’vebeenstruggling

withinternetspeeds,I wouldabsolutelyrecommend

tryingthem.Youcanpickthemupquitecheap– I got

mineonAmazonforlessthan£30(bit.ly/devolo488),

andit’sbeenwortheverypenny.Hopethathelps.

John,viaemail

Are powerline adapters fast?

GENERALPC

Q

Is therea waytoresizetaskbar

icons?I’mnotsurehowit

happenedbutmyiconsarenow

elongatedandincludethenameofthe

apporprogram.

Scott,viaemail

READERS RESPOND

Youcanseekhelporsuggestsolutionstootherreaders’problems

[email protected]/

webusermagazineortwitter.com/webusermagazine.

MAPS

Q

Is therea bettermapappthan

GoogleMaps?I can’tbelievethat

atthispointit’sthebestonetouse–

surelythere’sanalternativethat’sjust

asgood,withasmanyfeatures.

J Cartwright,viaemail

CANYOUHELP? [email protected]

HARDWARE

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