Andy Rathbone

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-05-2025

Six years after saying Windows 10 was the “last” version of Windows, Microsoft released Windows 11 on October 5, 2021. Although some people say it’s just Windows 10 with a new coat of paint, Windows 11 adds a few new features, removes some old ones, and changes the look and feel of Windows in some subtle ways. These tips help you work with the latest edition of Windows, Windows 11.

Article / Updated 08-10-2023

You can transfer files yourself if you're moving from a Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 PC. You can do this with a combination of a Microsoft account and the built‐in File History backup program in Windows. You tell the program to back up your old PC's files, and then you tell your new PC's program to restore the files. However, you need a portable hard drive for this to work. Portable hard drives are fairly inexpensive, usually costing less than $100. But there's a bonus: When you're through transferring the files, the drive works perfectly for backing up your new computer. To transfer files from an old Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 computer to a new Windows 10 computer, follow these steps: If you're running Windows 7 on your old PC, upgrade it to Windows 10.For many Windows 7 owners, this is probably a deal breaker. Unless, of course, you took advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade offer that ended July 29, 2016. Now that the deadline has passed, Windows 7 owners might be better off by buying a file transfer program.If you're running Windows 8, 8.1, or 10 on your old PC, move ahead to Step 2. If you've already been using File History on your old PC, jump to Step 5. Otherwise move to Step 3. Sign in with your Microsoft account on your old PC.When you sign in with a Microsoft account, Microsoft remembers many of your settings and services so it can duplicate them on other PCs you sign into. Plug the portable hard drive into your old PC and then set up File History to save your files onto the portable hard drive.File History comes built into Windows 8, 8.1, and 10. It could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to back up your files for the first time.While File History backs up your files, it shows the statement "File History is saving copies of your files for the first time." (It also lists the word Stop in case you want to stop the backup.) When File History has finished backing up your files to the portable drive, those words change to say "Files last copied," followed by the date and time it finished backing up your files, as shown. At that point, move to Step 5. Sign into your new Windows 10 PC with the same Microsoft account you used on your old PC. Then plug the portable hard drive into your new computer.By signing in with your Microsoft account, your settings automatically transfer to your new PC. (The wallpaper on your new PC quickly changes to match your old PC, letting you know that something is happening.) Open File History and direct your new Windows 10 PC toward your old File History backup. On your new Windows 10 PC, click the Start button and type File History into the Search box and press Enter. The Control Panel's File History window appears, as shown. Click the check box labeled I Want to Use a Previous Backup on this File History Drive. A window drops down, listing the backup you've made on your old PC. Click its name, and click the Turn On button. Your new PC begins backing up its files for the first time, but these incoming files won't damage your old PC's backup. Choose Restore Personal Files from the File History window's left pane. Choose the files and folders to restore and then click the green Restore button. Click the Forward or Back arrows next to the big green button along the window's bottom until you find the date and time of the files you'd like to restore.For example, if you used File History on your old PC for the first time in Step 4, click the Back arrow (on the left) until you're at the Number 1 backup. If you've been using File History on your old PC all along, click the Forward arrow (on the right) to move to your most recent backup. When you're viewing the files or folders you want to restore, click the green button found on the window's bottom edge, shown here. File History begins copying your old PC's files and folders onto your new PC. If there are no complications, your new PC should soon have the files and folders from your old PC. If you'd already been using File History on your old PC, all of your old PC's backups should still be available to you on your new PC. Your new PC will continue to back up your new computer's files to your portable hard drive. Keep the hard drive plugged in permanently. (Or, if you bought a new laptop or tablet, plug it in frequently so your computer can keep your backups current.) If you've just borrowed a friend's portable hard drive, you can unplug it at this point and give it back. But you should really have your own portable hard drive so you can begin backing up your new Windows 10 PC. Your Microsoft account and File History can transport your settings and files to your new PC. However, you must still install all of your old desktop programs onto your new PC. If you're moving to Windows 10 from a Windows 8 or 8.1 PC, you can find your apps waiting for you in the Windows Store: Click your icon near the Store app's upper‐right corner and choose My Library from the drop‐down menu. There you can find and download your old apps to your new PC.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-25-2022

In the Spring of 2020, Microsoft released an update to Windows 10, sometimes called the May 2020 Update. The update subtly changes Windows 10 by adding new features, as well as removing some old ones. These tips help you work with Windows 10 and its latest update.

Article / Updated 11-19-2021

Microsoft views Windows 11 as a one-size-fits-all computing solution that runs on laptops and desktop PCs, as well as on touch-screens, including tablets. Windows 11 looks and behaves almost identically on each device, and it brings a bonus: Its apps and programs will run on a Windows 11 tablet, PC, and laptop. Besides aiming to run on everything but clock radios, Windows 11 brings these changes to your computer: Start button and menu: Windows 11 moves the Start button and menu from its traditional lower-left corner to the center of the screen. The revamped Start menu sports a few rows of icons, but leaves out the animated tiles found in Windows 10. Look closely, and you’ll notice the Start menu now sports rounded corners, as do all other desktop windows. Hardware requirements: Previous Windows versions worked fairly well on older PCs, even those up to ten years old. Windows 11 breaks that model, unfortunately. If your computer is older than three years, you probably won’t be able to upgrade it to Windows 11. Settings app: Have you mastered Windows 10’s Settings menu? Erase that memory, because the new Settings app contains a new layout with new switches in new places. Apps on the desktop: Apps, which are small programs from the world of phones and tablets, consumed the full screen in Windows 8 and 8.1. Windows 11 lets you choose whether to run apps full screen or within desktop windows. (Microsoft says Windows 11 will let you download and run apps designed for Android smartphones sometime in 2022.) File Explorer: File Explorer, which lets you find, store, and manage files, receives a new, slimmed down look. The ribbon of menu options across the top has vanished, replaced by a single row of unnamed icons. Teams Chat: When everybody jumped onto Zoom for video chats during the pandemic, Microsoft decided to push its own Teams app for people to hold online meetings. The chat portion of Microsoft’s Teams program now comes built into Windows 11. Your Phone: The newly revamped Your Phone app lets you send and receive your phone’s messages from the keyboard of your desktop PC, all wirelessly. You can browse your phone’s latest photos from your desktop, make phone calls, and even run apps. Widgets: Widgets are simply a strip of little windows that update automatically to show the latest news, weather, or other informational tidbits. They leap onto the screen with a click on its taskbar icon. What's missing from Windows 11? Windows 11 offers many new features, described in the previous section and cov-ered throughout this book. However, it dropped just as many features found in Windows 10. Here’s the rundown on the features left behind from Windows 11: Compatibility: Windows 10 could run on many older PCs, making it popular with owners of old Windows 7 PCs. Windows 11, by contrast, requires newer PCs with the latest technology. Chances are, you’ll have to buy a new PC. (I had to buy a new PC just to write this book!) Timeline: Windows 10 kept track of which programs and files you worked with for the past 30 days. A click of the Timeline button let you jump back to see them all, letting you quickly and easily jump back to, say, an unfinished file from last week. Windows 11 removes the feature, offering no replacement. Movable taskbar: The Windows taskbar normally lives along the screen’s bottom edge. Previous Windows versions let you move that taskbar to any edge you wanted. With Windows 11, the taskbar now remains affixed to the bottom of your desktop, with no option to move it. Synced wallpaper: In Windows 10, owners of Microsoft accounts see their wallpaper appear whenever they log onto a Windows 10 PC. To the dismay of computer decorators, Windows 11 killed that feature. Tablet mode: Designed specifically for tablets with touchscreens, Tablet mode quickly spaced your icons farther apart to accommodate thick finger-tips. The Start screen and programs always filled the entire screen. Windows 11 dumps Tablet mode because Windows 11 is automatically finger-friendly. Live Tiles on the Start menu: In Windows 10, the Start menu sometimes resembled a moving marquee, with animated tiles that changed to show different things. Windows 11 ditches the animated tiles in favor of a simpler menu that merely shows static icons. You can no longer create folders on the Start menu for storing related items, either. Internet Explorer: Microsoft’s elderly browser, Internet Explorer, disappeared completely from Windows 11, replaced by the new browser, Microsoft Edge. Cortana: Microsoft fired its little robot that tried to help you work but mostly got in the way. You can still launch the Cortana app from the Start menu, should you miss it, but otherwise, Cortana won’t bother you. Paint 3D: Paint 3D let you design three dimensional models for 3D printers to create using layers of plastic. Few people used it, and even fewer will notice that it’s missing. Skype: Microsoft paid billions for Skype, an app for making inexpensive (or free) phone calls using the internet. But Microsoft let the app languish. Now, it’s replaced by Teams, a program for creating online meetings. Microsoft added the chat portion of Teams into Windows 11 to compete with Zoom, which zoomed in popularity during the pandemic. OneNote: Windows 10 came with OneNote, an app for taking notes much like a virtual school notebook. OneNote vanished from Windows 11, but compulsive note-takers like me can still install it for free from the Microsoft Store. Short for Trusted Platform Module, TPM is a computer chip that places an extra layer of security over your PC. However, most older PCs lack a TPM chip, meaning they can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. Some older PCs come with TPM chips, but the manufacturer left them turned off. To see if your PC has a compatible TPM chip and whether it can be turned on, download Microsoft’s PC Health Check app, available at https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp.

Article / Updated 10-28-2021

In a process known as ripping, Windows Media Player in Windows 10 can copy your CDs to your PC as MP3 files, the industry standard for digital music. But until you tell the player that you want MP3 files, it creates WMA files — a format that won't play on iPads, most smartphones, nor many other music players. Ripping CDs is a form of copying files for music using Windows Media Player. To make Windows Media Player create songs with the more versatile MP3 format instead of WMA, click the Organize button in the top-left corner, choose Options, and click the Rip Music tab. Choose MP3 instead of WMA from the Format drop-down menu and nudge the audio quality over a tad from 128 to 256 or even 320 for better sound. To copy CDs to your PC's hard drive, follow these instructions: Open Windows Media Player, insert a music CD, and click the Rip CD button. You may need to push a button on the front or side of your computer's disc drive to make the tray eject. Windows Media Player connects to the internet, identifies your CD, and fills in the album's name, artist, and song titles. Then the program begins copying the CD's songs to your PC and listing their titles in the Windows Media Player Library. You're through. If Windows Media Player can't find the songs' titles automatically, however, move ahead to Step 2. Right-click the first track and choose Find Album Info, if necessary. If Windows Media Player comes up empty-handed, right-click the first track and choose Find Album Info. If you're connected to the internet, type the album's name into the Search box and then click Search. If the Search box finds your album, click its name, choose Next, and click Finish. If you're not connected to the Internet, or if the Search box comes up empty, right-click the first song, click Edit, and manually fill in the song title. Repeat for the other titles, as well as the album, artist, genre, and year tags. Here are some tips for ripping CDs to your computer: Normally Windows Media Player copies every song on the CD. To leave Tiny Tim off your ukulele music compilation, however, remove the check mark from Tiny Tim's name. If Windows Media Player has already copied the song to your PC, feel free to delete it from within Windows Media Player. Click the Library button, right-click the song sung by the offending yodeler, and choose Delete. Windows Media Player automatically places your ripped CDs into your Music folder. You can also find your newly ripped music in the Windows Media Player Library.

Article / Updated 10-04-2021

When you create a CD or DVD, you must tell your PC running Windows 10 what you're copying and where you intend to play it: Music for a CD player? Photo slideshows for a TV's DVD player? Or files to store on your computer? If you choose the wrong answer, your disc won't work, and you've created yet another coaster. Here are the Disc Creation rules: Music: To create a CD that plays music in your CD player or car stereo, you need to fire up the Windows Media Player program and burn an audio CD. Photo slide shows: Windows doesn't include the Windows DVD Maker bundled with Windows Vista and Windows 7. To create photo slideshows, you need a third-party program. Follow these steps to write files to a new blank CD or DVD. (If you're writing files to a CD or DVD that you've written to before, jump ahead to Step 4.) Insert the blank disc into your disc burner and push in the tray. Then click or tap the Notification box that appears in the screen's upper-right corner. When the Notification box asks how you'd like to proceed, click the box's Burn Files to a Disc option. Windows displays a Burn a Disc dialog box and asks you to create a title for the disc. If the Notification box disappeared before you could click on it, eject your disc, push it back in, and have your hand ready on the mouse. (Alternatively, you can bring back the Notification box by right-clicking the disc drive's icon in File Explorer and choosing the Open Autoplay option.) Type a name for the disc, describe how you want to use the disc, and click Next. Unfortunately, Windows limits your CD or DVD's title to 16 characters. Instead of typing Family Picnic atop Orizaba in 2012, stick to the facts: Orizaba, 2012. Or, just click Next to use the default name for the disc: the current date. Windows can burn the files to the disc two different ways. To decide which method works best for you, it offers you two options: Like a USB flash drive: This method lets you read and write files to the disc many times, a handy way to use discs as portable file carriers. Unfortunately, that method isn't compatible with some CD or DVD players connected to home stereos or TVs. With a CD/DVD player: If you plan to play your disc on a fairly new home stereo disc player that's smart enough to read files stored in several different formats, select this method. Armed with the disc's name, Windows prepares the disc for incoming files. Tell Windows which files to write to disc. Now that your disc is ready to accept the files, tell Windows what information to send its way. You can do this in any of several ways: Drag and drop your files and/or folders into the drive's File Explorer window. Right-click the item you want to copy, be it a single file, folder, or selected files and folders. When the pop-up menu appears, choose Send To and select your disc burner from the menu. (The pop-up menu lists the disc's title you chose in Step 2.) Drag and drop files and/or folders on top of the burner's icon in File Explorer. From your My Music, My Pictures, or My Documents folder, click the Share tab and then click Burn to Disc. This button copies all of that folder's files (or just the files you've selected) to the disc as files. Tell your current program to save the information to the disc rather than to your hard drive. No matter which method you choose, Windows dutifully looks over the information and copies it to the disc you inserted in the first step. A progress window appears, showing the disc burner's progress. When the progress window disappears, Windows has finished burning the disc. Close your disc-burning session by ejecting the disc. When you're through copying files to the disc, push your drive's Eject button (or right-click the drive's icon in File Explorer and choose Eject). Windows closes the session, adding a finishing touch to the disc that lets other PCs read it. If you try to copy a large batch of files to a disc — more than will fit — Windows complains immediately. Copy fewer files at a time, perhaps spacing them out over two discs. Most programs let you save files directly to disc. Choose Save from the File menu and select your CD burner. Put a disc (preferably one that's not already filled) into your disc drive to start the process.

Article / Updated 09-17-2021

Every once in a while, Windows 10 just drops the ball and wanders off somewhere to sit under a tree. You're left looking at a computer that just looks back. None of the computer's lights blink. Panicked clicks don't do anything. Pressing every key on the keyboard doesn't do anything, or worse yet, the computer starts to beep at every key press. When nothing onscreen moves (except sometimes the mouse pointer), the computer is frozen solid. Try the following approaches, in the following order, to correct the problem: Approach 1: Press Esc twice. This action rarely works, but give it a shot anyway. Approach 2: Press the Ctrl, Alt, and Delete keys simultaneously and choose Start Task Manager from the menu that appears. If you're lucky, the Task Manager appears with the message that it discovered an unresponsive application. The Task Manager lists the names of currently running programs, including the one that's not responding. On the Processes tab, click the name of the program that's causing the mess and then click the End Task button. You lose any unsaved work in that program, of course, but you should be used to that. (If you somehow stumbled onto the Ctrl+Alt+Delete combination by accident, press Esc to quit Task Manager and return to Windows.) If that still doesn't do the trick, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete again and click the Power icon (shown above) in the screen's bottom-right corner. Choose Restart from the pop-up menu, and your computer shuts down and restarts, hopefully returning in a better mood. Approach 3: If the preceding approaches don't work, turn off the computer by pressing its power button. (If that merely brings up the Turn Off the Computer menu, choose Restart, and your computer should restart.) Approach 4: If you keep holding down your computer's power button long enough (usually about 4 to 5 seconds), it eventually stops resisting and turns off.

Article / Updated 09-16-2021

A network is simply a group of connected computers that can share things, such as your internet connection, files, or a printer. Most people use a public network every day without knowing it. For example, every time you check your email, your PC connects to another PC on the internet to grab your waiting messages. Connecting a computer running Windows 10 to a network isn't very difficult, but you do need to make sure that your machine is properly connected and that your Homegroup is set up. Connecting with cables First, a word to the wired crowd: If you've chosen to connect a computer to your router with a cable, plug one end of the cable into your computer's network port. Plug the cable's other end into one of your router's network ports. (The ports are usually numbered; any number will do.) To connect other computers to the same router, connect cables between those computers' network ports and the router's other empty network ports. If your internet company didn't do it for you, plug a cable from your broadband modem's LAN or ethernet port into your router's WAN port. (If your router and modem live together in one box, you can skip this step.) Turn on your router, and you've finished: You've discovered how easy it is to create a wired network. (Be sure to set up a Homegroup, so your computers can begin sharing their files.) Making a wireless connection Wireless is a different story. After you set up your router to broadcast your network wirelessly, you must tell Windows how to receive it. Here's a quick how-to for connecting to your own network: Click the Start button and choose Settings from the Start menu. When the Settings screen appears, click the Network & Internet icon. Windows sniffs the airwaves and then lists all the wireless networks within range of your computer, including, with any luck, your own. (Your network will be the name — the SSID — that you chose when setting up your router, described in the previous section.) The Network & Internet settings page, shown here, places the strongest available wireless networks at the top of the list. Windows sorts the available wireless networks, usually placing the one with the strongest at the top. Choose the desired wireless network by clicking its name and then clicking the Connect button. If you select the adjacent Connect Automatically check box before clicking the Connect button, Windows automatically connects to that network the next time you're within range, sparing you from following all these steps again. Enter a password and click Next. Here's where you type in the same password you entered into your router when setting up your wireless network. (To confuse things, Windows 10 refers to your password as a "Network Security Key.") If your router has a little button labelled WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup), you can press it at this point. The router then slips the password to your PC through the airwaves, sparing you from having to type it in. At this step, Windows 10 offers to let you share a wireless network's password with all of your contacts. To do so, click the adjacent Share Network with My Contacts check box. This works fine for public networks, and for people with trustworthy friends. But if your contacts include some amusing but shady characters, don't check this box when connecting to your home network. Solving connection problems At this point, Windows 10 treats your newly joined wireless network as a public network, the same as one you'd find in a coffee shop or airport. You won't be able to find or access your other networked computers until you create a Homegroup. If you're still having problems connecting, try the following tips: Cordless phones and microwave ovens interfere with wireless networks, oddly enough. Try to keep your cordless phone out of the same room as your wireless computer, and don't heat up that sandwich when web browsing. From the Windows desktop, the taskbar's wireless network icon (shown in the margin) provides a handy way to connect wirelessly, as well. If your desktop's taskbar contains a wireless network icon, click it to jump to Step 3. How to find other computers on a network Windows 10 enables you to quickly find other computers on a network. Much of the time, you needn't care about the other PCs on your private network. But when you want to find a connected PC, perhaps to grab files from the PC in your family room, Windows is happy to help. To find a PC on your Homegroup or traditional network, open any folder and click the word Network on the Navigation Pane along the folder's left edge, as shown here. To find computers connected to your PC through a network, click the Navigation Pane's Network category. Clicking Network lists every PC that's connected to your own PC in a traditional network. Clicking Homegroup in the Navigation Pane lists Windows PCs in your Homegroup, a simpler way to share files. To browse files on any of those PCs in either category, just double-click their names.

Article / Updated 09-10-2021

On your Windows 10 desktop, a background, also known as wallpaper, is simply the picture covering your desktop, behind the icons. To change it, follow these steps: Right-click your desktop and choose Personalize. Windows quickly kicks you over to the Settings app's Personalization section, neatly open to the Background setting shown here. Click the drop-down list to choose between covering your desktop background with pictures or colors. You can't right-click the desktop when in Tablet mode. Instead, press the Start button, tap the word Settings, and tap the Personalization icon. Select Picture from the Background drop-down list. The Background section's menu lets you create a background from a picture, a color, or a slideshow — a combination of photos that automatically changes at preset intervals. Click a new picture for the background. If you don't like Microsoft's picture offerings, click the Browse button to search your own Pictures folder for potential backgrounds. Feel free to get creative! But remember, you'll want to be able to read the icons on top of your background, so don't make it too busy. Background files can be stored as BMP, GIF, JPG, JPEG, DIB, or PNG files. That means you can choose a background from nearly any photo or art found on the Internet, shot from a digital camera, or scanned with a scanner. When you click a new picture, Windows immediately places it across your desktop and shows you a preview atop the Personalization window. If you're pleased, jump to Step 4. Decide whether to fill, fit, stretch, tile, or center the picture. Although Windows tries to choose the best-looking setting, not every picture fits perfectly across the desktop. Small pictures, for example, need to be either stretched to fit the space or spread across the screen in rows like tiles on a floor. When tiling and stretching still look odd or distorted, try the Fill or Fit option to keep the perspective. Or try centering the image and leaving blank space around its edges. Click the Save Changes button to save your new background. Windows saves your new background across your screen.

Article / Updated 09-09-2021

When you're tired of fiddling with your scanner's built-in software, turn to the simple scanning app bundled with Windows 10. Dubbed simply Scan, the new app doesn't work with older scanners, unfortunately. But if your scanner is relatively new, the Scan app is a refreshing change from complicated scanner menus. Setting up a new scanner for the first time? Be sure to unlock it by sliding a lever or turning a dial on the scanner to the unlock position. That lock protects the scanner during shipping, but you must turn it off before use. Follow these steps to scan something into your computer: From the Start menu, open the Scan app. If you don't spot the Scan app on the Start menu, click the words All Apps in the Start menu's bottom-left corner. The Start menu lists all of its apps alphabetically. Click the Scan app, and the Scan app appears on the screen. If it complains that your scanner isn't connected, make sure you've connected the USB cord between your computer and the scanner and that the scanner is turned on. You can also connect the scanner to your computer using a WiFi connection. Follow the instructions that came with your scanner to do this. If your scanner's plugged in and turned on, the scan app lists your scanner's name, shown here, and the file type used for saving your files. (The PNG file type is widely accepted by most programs.) Click the Show More link for additional options and click Preview to test a scan. If the app doesn't recognize your scanner, your scanner is too old. You're stuck with your scanner's bundled software — if it works — or, unfortunately, buying a new scanner. (Optional) To change the settings, click the Show More link. The app's default settings work fine for most jobs. The Show More link offers these options for specific types of scans: Color mode: Choose Color for color items, such as photos and glossy magazine pages. Choose Grayscale for nearly everything else and choose Black and White only for line drawings or black-and-white clip art. Resolution (DPI): For most work, the default, 300, works fine. Higher resolution scans (larger numbers) bring more detail but consume more space, making them difficult to email. Lower resolution scans show less detail but create smaller file sizes. You may need to experiment to find the settings that meet your needs. Save File To: The Scan app creates a Scan folder in your PC's Pictures folder, where it stores your newly scanned images. If desired, you can change the Scan folder's name or even create a different folder for each scanning session. Click the Preview button to make sure your scan appears correct. Click the Preview icon, and the Scan app makes a first pass, letting you preview a scan made with your chosen settings. If the preview doesn't look right, make sure you've made the right choice for your job in Color Mode, described in the preceding step. If the preview shows a blank white page, make sure you've unlocked the scanner as described in the scanner's bundled instruction sheets. If you're scanning a smaller item that doesn't fill the entire scanner bed, look for the circle markers in each corner of the preview scan. Drag each circle inward to surround the area you want to copy. Click the Scan button. When the scan finishes, click the View button to see your scan. The Scan app scans your image with the settings you've chosen in the previous steps and then saves your image in your Pictures folder's Scan folder. The Scan app works well for fast, easy scans. But because it relies on the simple, built-in Windows software, your scanner's built-in control buttons won't work. If you want the buttons to work or you need finer control over your scans, skip the Scan app, head for the desktop, and install your scanner's bundled software. (On some scanner models, Windows Update installs the scanner's bundled software automatically as soon as you plug in the scanner.) Finally, for quick and dirty scans, just take a picture of the document with the camera built into your phone or tablet. That won't work well for photos, but it's a great way to keep track of receipts and invoices.