Web User - UK (2019-09-18)

Your Top Tips

Ourpick ofth ebe stadvicefromour

readers.Pleasese ndqu estionsandanswers

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70 18 Sept - 1 Oct 2019

SOFTWARE

Tr y new operatingsystems
in your browser
If you want to try a newOS but can’t
face the rigmarole of installing virtual PC
software, then I heartilyrecommend
OnWorks (www.onworks.net), which lets
you emulate different operating systems
from your br owser. Goto OS
Distributions and choose fromFedora,
Ubuntu,Windows 10 (well, a Linux clone
of Windows 10), PearOS (which is as
closeto using a Mac asyou’ll get without
owning one) and more. You’ll then see
the workstation right inyour br owser.
Walt Kennick, via email

GENERAL PC

Use or disable activity history
Windows records your activities, such as
visitedwebsites and opened documents,
in a timeline. Click theTask View button

in the taskbar(second icon onmy PC)

to displayyour activities as tiles on the

screen with a time slider on the right. If

you use twocomputers –work andat

home or desktop and laptop,for example

• it shows activities from both.The other
  computer’s name is shown in thetop-
  right corner of the tile.
  If you don’t use thisfeature or find it
  creepy being monitored, openWindows
  Settings and choose Privacy, then
  ‘Activity history’. Turn off anyswitches
  that store your activities and send them
  to Microsoft.
  Peter Bently, via email

GENERAL PC

Get adesktop hardware

monitor

The Windows 1903 update includesa

new Game Bar which, though primarily

aimedat gamers, has other uses,too.

For example,you can pin a CPU, GPU

and RAM monitorto the desktop. I prefer

this to the Task Manager, which does the

same thing but in a floating window.

PressWindows+G to open theGame

Bar. Click and drag the panelfor CPU/

GPU/RAMto whereyou want it on the

desktop, then click the pin iconto pin it.

Click elsewhere on the desktop to

dismiss theGame Bar and the monitor

remains.To move it, pressWindows+G

again and unpin it.

Simon Ryan, via email

BROWSERS

SpeedupFirefox loading

times

I am fed up with the time TLS Handshake

takes in Firefox when loading pages in

Windows 7. I’ve searchedfor solutions

online andfound only one thatworks

reasonablywell. Typeabout:config

in the Firefox address bar, then typels

in the search box and press Enter. Right-

click ‘security.tls.version.min’ and change

the integervalue to 2. It will take effect

straight away, and may also helpto clear

your cache.

Coops, via email

BROWSERS

Play the Chrome dinosaur

gameat anytime

Google’s dinosaur game typically only

plays whenyou lose access to the

internet butyou don’t have to keep

TOP TIP

Not afan of the new-look Google

Images? Me neither – I much

preferred the old design.After

some quick and judicious Googling,

I’ve found the answer – a Chrome

extension called Google Images

Rest ored (bit.ly/restored484). This

brings back, as close as possible,

the old look before theoverhaul,

whileremovingrelated searches

and adding aView Image button.

That’s really useful because,for some

unknownreason, Google got rid of this

entirely. It’s also availablefor Firefox

Bring back the old Google Images

GOOGLE

(bit.ly/restoredfox484), if that’s your

browser of choice.

Fred Bliss, via email

Do you wantto store and share your PC

activities or not? Choose in Settings

Modify this setting to make Firefox load

pages more quickly

Get back Google Images’ View Image button

Back

Issues

disc

winner

Bring any OS to your browser