I had no idea that there were so many things I should have turned off in Windows 10.  CNET gave me a list.

The worst one is the ability of every app to run in the background, even when you don’t have it open. An app you don’t even care about could be installing updates and sending you notifications, among other actions, hogging your bandwidth and slowing down your computer. To turn it off, type “background apps” in the Windows search bar in the lower left of your screen. When it comes up, toggle the master switch to the off position. 

Next on the list: Did you know you have a Microsoft ID, tied to your account, that is given out to marketers? If it bothers you, type “privacy settings” into the Windows search bar. When it comes up, toggle the switch to off where it says “Let apps use advertising ID to make ads more interesting to you.”

For more of these tips, search on the phrase “8 default Windows 10 settings that aren’t good and how to change them.”

Fixing a Buggy Computer

 One of my favorite tricks for fixing a buggy computer is “System Restore.”  So when Windows stopped making restore points on my machine, I was miffed.

System Restore lets you go back to a time when everything was working. (The Mac equivalent is “Time Machine.”) To set it up in Windows, type “create a restore point” in the search box at the lower left of the screen. Then click “configure.” When I did that, I discovered that Windows had not allotted any storage space for restore points. No wonder I wasn’t finding any. I quickly moved the slider from zero to 1.5 gigabytes. To test it, I uninstalled a program and typed “create a restore point,” in the Windows search box in order to get to “System Restore.”  Everything worked. 

 To be extra cautious, you might want to have Windows create a restore point automatically every time you reboot. That way, if something goes wrong today, you can revert to yesterday. See “How to Make Windows Automatically Create a System Restore Point at Startup,” from HowtoGeek.com. The article has a link to a free, automatic tool, which makes it easy. 

The Ultimate Engraver

I once was in a huge room full of commercial laser cutters. It was at a tradeshow and they were engraving astonishing works of art, machinery and jewelry.  Even more amazing, you can get a home version of this equipment for about the cost of a computer.

The “xTool M1,” by MakeBlock, is a desktop cutter and engraver coming out in March. The price will be $1299 when it ships but is selling for $799 to early birds. The company raised a million dollars in the first five days at the crowdfunding site Kickstarter and has since blown past $1.6 million worth of pre-orders.

There are several videos on the xTool site. You can watch the making of a snowflake coaster, earrings and a rubber stamp. Other possibilities include dog collars, rings, and the kind of wooden rolling pins that make designs on dough. It can engrave anything from aluminum to vinyl. You might want to start a business putting Fido’s name on his dog collar. But it would be great to have a friend to help you learn the machine.

Fun With Facebook 

Facebook.com/townhall lists your local, state and national representatives. I clicked on our ambassador to the United Nations. Other people had chimed in with critical comments right beneath the ambassador’s glowing statements. One said that “the West chose to side with a petulant and militarist minority in Ethiopia.. adding fuel to the recurring conflicts.”

Twitter Tip

Most people follow hundreds of celebrities, journalists and the like on Twitter. I only follow eight. But even with eight, I don’t often look at them all. They get buried on the Twitter home page.

Here’s the solution. To see the list of those you follow, go to Twitter.com and click the word “Profile” or, if you’re on a cell phone, click your account icon, then “Profile.” Next tap “Following” and click on a name to see their most recent posts. If you’re not following anyone yet, type a name into the search bar at Twitter.com and click “follow.”

Facebook Question

A reader asked two questions. First: “How did my location in Charleston SC get into Facebook Marketplace when it’s only on my desktop at home? I do not have Facebook on my laptop.”   

The answer is that Facebook knows your location as soon as you sign in, whether you’re at home or in Timbuktu. 

Question two: How can you stop Facebook from sending you an email every time your friend’s latest cat photo appears?  On your computer, click the down arrow in the top right of Facebook. Then click “Settings & Privacy.” Now click “Settings,” then click “Notifications” and turn off any you don’t want.

Doing Without Big Tech

If you want to see how tough it is to browse the Internet without one of the big tech companies, try a free app from BigTechDetective.net. It prevents any website from loading–  if it uses something from a big tech firm. 

The app is a little techy to use so let’s cut to the chase. It’s almost impossible to browse the web without Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. On most sites, you’ll get a message that the page is locked because it uses a resource from one of those companies.