Guides

Why colours look different Photos and files · 4 min read Why colours shift between monitors, phones and prints, what colour profiles do, and the practical steps that make your photos travel well. Read the guide → Bootable USB drives Windows · 4 min read When you need a bootable USB drive, how to make one for Windows or recovery, and the boot settings that catch people out. Read the guide → Automating repetitive jobs Productivity · 4 min read How to decide what is worth automating on Windows, the built in tools that cover most cases, and the mistakes that make automation more trouble than doing it by hand. Read the guide → Screen recording settings Media · 4 min read Which screen recording settings affect quality and file size, why recordings stutter, and sensible starting values for tutorials and gameplay. Read the guide → Windows privacy settings Privacy · 4 min read The Windows privacy settings worth changing, what diagnostic data actually covers, and why removal scripts cause more problems than they solve. Read the guide → ZIP, 7z and compression Files · 4 min read The difference between ZIP and 7z, why photos and video barely compress, and how to package files for sending, storing or protecting. Read the guide → Using QR codes safely Security · 4 min read What a QR code actually contains, the realistic risks of scanning one, and how to make codes of your own that keep working. Read the guide → Why PDFs get huge Documents · 5 min read What makes PDF files large, the difference between a scanned and a text PDF, and how to compress one for email or print without losing what matters. Read the guide → Spatial audio explained Audio · 4 min read How spatial audio works on Windows headphones, the difference between Windows Sonic and paid alternatives, and which claims are worth ignoring. Read the guide → Why downloads are slow Windows · 4 min read Why downloads run slower than your broadband speed suggests, the difference between megabits and megabytes, and how to find the real bottleneck. Read the guide → Getting the same picture twice Local AI · 4 min read Why an AI image generator gives a new result from identical wording, what the seed does, and how to reproduce a picture you already liked. Read the guide → Sorting out a photo library Photos and files · 5 min read A safe order of work for organising a large disorganised photo collection, covering duplicates, folder structure, dates that lie, and what to actually delete. Read the guide → Why your PC feels slow Windows · 5 min read How to diagnose a slow Windows PC properly, the five causes that account for most cases, and the common advice that makes no difference. Read the guide → When a video will not play Media · 4 min read Containers, codecs and why a video plays on one device but not another, with fixes for no picture, no sound, stutter and colour artefacts. Read the guide → Backing up properly Files · 4 min read Why cloud sync is not a backup, what the three copy rule means in practice, and a straightforward setup that covers the ways files are actually lost. Read the guide → Choosing an image format Photos and files · 5 min read What JPEG, PNG, WebP and AVIF are each good at, how much space the newer formats really save, and when compatibility should decide it for you. Read the guide → Free up disk space on Windows Windows · 5 min read A practical order for clearing space on a full Windows drive, using built in tools, with the large hidden files explained and the risky advice flagged. Read the guide → Image models on small GPUs Local AI · 6 min read Why AI image models run out of graphics memory on 4 GB and 6 GB cards, what each memory setting actually does, and a working set-up for each size of card. Read the guide → One library across game stores Games · 5 min read How to see games from Steam, Xbox, Epic, GOG and elsewhere in a single library, what the different approaches can and cannot do, and how to keep it tidy. Read the guide → What offline AI really means Local AI · 5 min read Offline, local and private mean different things in AI software. What each one covers, what a local tool may still send, and how to verify it yourself. Read the guide →