Windows 10: Tips for Non-Techies

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Teapot55
Teapot55 Posts: 731 Forumite
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in Techie Stuff
(This is an offshoot of babelfish's thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5696236 asking for advice on helping a 50-something relative with a new laptop that will probably have Windows 10).

I'm just going to post one tip at a time (mainly as I remember them from when I first started seriously using Windows 10 a few months back).

Here's my first tip for making the writing bigger
  • get your mouse and right-click (press the right-hand button) in the middle of your 'desktop' (the first screen that comes up when you put the computer on)
  • this will open up a small 'menu'
  • click (use left-hand button on the mouse) on 'Display settings'
  • in the middle of the window that comes up is a blue line with a blue 'slider' button on it
  • drag the slider to the right a bit (click on the slider and keep the mouse button pressed down while you move the mouse to the right)
  • close the window (click on the 'X' top right)
Please do post your tips as well, peeps, but please keep it simple
  • no acronyms (so no BBC, ITV or rofl).
  • no long words or technical terms (unless you say what they mean in brackets)
  • do say what your computer is (for example, mine is a Lenovo desktop computer with Windows 10 Home)
  • do say if one of the tips does or doesn't work on your computer

would've . . . could've . . . should've . . .

A.A.A.S. (Associate of the Acronym Abolition Society)

There's definitely no 'a' in 'definitely'.
«134567

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  • AndyPix
    AndyPix Posts: 4,847 Forumite
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    This thread is a great idea - Nice work :D
  • AndyPix
    AndyPix Posts: 4,847 Forumite
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    edited 18 August 2017 at 4:09PM
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    My tip :


    Many of the useful tools in windows can now be accessed by clicking the RIGHT mouse button on the "Start flag" (The flag shaped picture at the bottom left of your screen)


    Control panel used to be there, but seems to have been removed in latest updates
    Why microsoft ? I really liked that shortcut :(


    edit : Dell XPS 8900 Desktop, core i7,Windows 10 Pro
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
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    Teapot55 wrote: »
    • do say what your computer is (for example, mine is a Lenovo desktop computer with Windows 10 Home)

    Interestingly, you didn't say what yours was ... until you gave this bullet list of posting tips. ;):D
  • Teapot55
    Teapot55 Posts: 731 Forumite
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    AndyPix wrote: »

    Many of the useful tools in windows can now be accessed by clicking the RIGHT mouse button on the "Start flag" (The flag shaped picture at the bottom left of your screen) (made bold by Teapot55)


    Control panel used to be there, but seems to have been removed in latest updates
    Why microsoft ? I really liked that shortcut :(


    edit : Dell XPS 8900 Desktop, core i7,Windows 10 Pro


    Fab. First new tip for me. Just tried it & it does show the Control Panel in the list when I do it!

    would've . . . could've . . . should've . . .

    A.A.A.S. (Associate of the Acronym Abolition Society)

    There's definitely no 'a' in 'definitely'.
  • debitcardmayhem
    debitcardmayhem Posts: 11,858 Forumite
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    Most important tip Back it up, and keep backing it up
    🍺 😎 Still grumpy, and No, Cloudflare I am NOT a robot 🤖BUT my responses are now out of my control they are posted via ChatGPT or the latest AI
  • grumpycrab
    grumpycrab Posts: 4,989 Forumite
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    debitcardmayhem wrote: »
    Most important tip Back it up, and keep backing it up
    How? But keep it simple.
    If you put your general location in your Profile, somebody here may be able to come and help you.
  • giraffe69
    giraffe69 Posts: 3,558 Forumite
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    Just tried it & it does show the Control Panel in the list when I do it!

    If it is showing you may not be on the latest version. If you click the start button and pick settings then system then about it will tell you the version of the OS (Mine is 1703).
    You can always type "control" in the Cortana box to the right of the start button if it is not there.
  • debitcardmayhem
    debitcardmayhem Posts: 11,858 Forumite
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    debitcardmayhem wrote: »
    Most important tip Back it up, and keep backing it up
    grumpycrab wrote: »
    How? But keep it simple.
    It's tip.... not a tutorial:D
    🍺 😎 Still grumpy, and No, Cloudflare I am NOT a robot 🤖BUT my responses are now out of my control they are posted via ChatGPT or the latest AI
  • Neil_Jones
    Neil_Jones Posts: 8,913 Forumite
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    Control Panel on right-click Start Menu was removed in the Creators Update of Windows 10. You can get back to it (not all options are there) either by typing Control Panel into Cortana/Search Bar or just typing Control Panel into any of the white bars at the top of any Explorer Window.

    Also you can right-click any of the options in the Control Panel and pin them to your Start Menu. There is an option for "pin to quick access" but sadly this doesn't work.

    You can pin the Control Panel as a whole to the Start Menu - just search for it through Cortana/Search and right-click Pin to Start Menu.
  • Frozen_up_north
    Frozen_up_north Posts: 2,420 Forumite
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    grumpycrab wrote: »
    How? But keep it simple.

    I use Acronis True Image with an external hard drive:
    https://www.acronis.com/

    Other tips:
    Unless you have Win 10 Pro and use Bitlocker, secure any sensitive data using Veracrypt. Thieves love to steal laptops.

    Many of us hate the Win 10 user interface, Classic Shell puts a Win XP, or Win 7 "shell" on it. The start menu becomes much easier to use.

    The latter two are free.
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