Almost everyone encounters a hard drive error at least once in their daily life, so don’t panic – there’s still a lot you can do to remedy the situation if your hard drive fails. But first, let’s take a look at some of the common causes and what obvious signs you can look out for.

What causes hard drive errors

Often, a hard drive failure fix is as simple as knowing what caused the problem in the first place. Hard drives come in two main formats: HDD (hard disk drive) and SSD (solid-state drive). Regardless of which type you have, there are a few common causes of hard drive errors that you might run into, and they are:

• Electronic – this could be from a surge or fluctuation in power, and is one of the more common things to happen.
• Excessive heat – if your computer is left in the sun or used for longer periods of time without a break, it can overheat, causing damage to the hard drive.
• Water damage – yes, if you spill liquid on your keyboard and it gets into your computer, it can damage the delicate electronics inside.
• Faults in hardware – something may not be working correctly in the mechanics of your hard drive (sometimes known as a ‘manufacturers fault’), yet this doesn’t happen frequently.
• Corrupted files – likely one of the biggest causes of hard drive errors, corrupted files can happen when you don’t shut down your computer correctly or pull out a USB stick before it has been properly ejected.

What to look out for

If you suspect something might be wrong with your hard drive, there are a few warning signs to look for. You might only find a subtle symptom or perhaps something much more obvious like an error message, but when your computer starts acting strangely, that’s likely the first indication that something needs your attention.

Computer slowing down

If your computer starts working much slower than normal, there could be something happening with your hard drive. This can appear as longer loading times when you click on files or your computer might take extra time to boot up or shut down.

Missing hard drive

If you can’t see the computer hard drive on your computer from File Explorer (PC) or Finder (Mac), chances are something is wrong. Similarly, if the hard drive is visible but you can’t click on it or see any of the files or programs, there might be some corrupted files at play.

Noises

Pay close attention to the sounds your computer makes when it starts up. If you hear anything unusual, like grinding or clicking, it’s a sure sign that the hard drive is having some trouble working as normal.

How to fix a hard drive

The most important thing to do here is stay calm. Computers can be fixed and parts can be replaced. There are a few steps you can take at home to try and diagnose the problem before you need to call in the experts for a hard drive failure fix.

Read the error message closely

First thing’s first, if you have an error message on screen, what does it say? Sometimes your hard drive starts to slow down when its almost full, so try clearing out your downloads folder and closing down any applications you’re not using to free up some space.

Run a disc checkup

If you can, run a disc checkup. This will look different for a PC and an Apple Mac, but essentially you can use software to scan your hard drive to look for anything that’s not working or isn’t in the right place.

Turn it off!

Computers are durable but still prone to errors from time to time, so if there’s nothing obvious you can spot, turn your computer off. If you try and backup your data or perform other maintenance tasks, it may just make the problem worse. Then, take it to a qualified professional computer repair centre to help diagnose and repair the unknown issue.

Call Geeks2U!

No matter what the issue is, our expert team of Geeks have the know-how to diagnose what’s going on and explain it to you in a way you’ll understand. We can perform:

• Computer repairs
• Laptop repairs
• Computer hardware repairs
• Mac repairs
• Macbook repairs

Often, technology itself is seen as a prime cause for higher power bills. The argument goes that because we’ve got mobiles, laptops and even bigger TVs these days, our power bills are higher as a result.

That’s not entirely fair to technology, and few of us would want to go back to living without the conveniences of modern life. Thankfully, technologies do exist that can make it easier to manage your power usage and lower your power bills.

1. Use a smart meter

They’re not universal, but many home electricity meters are now what’s called “smart meters”. These are more advanced electricity meters that can be read and controlled remotely in real time.

That’s great if you didn’t like having a power company employee coming round to tap at your meter every few months. The bigger advantage here is that they can give you a more nuanced view of your power usage over time.

Armed with that kind of information, you can then examine the available power offers in your area to make the best match for your circumstances.

These vary both by state and location in terms of which providers will offer you a deal, but knowing your regular power usage is a great first step in constraining your power spend.

2. Invest in smart plugs

The smart meter on your property can give you a whole-of-home reading, but that’s only part of the story. If your usage is high, you’d like to know why, right?

This is where getting an energy monitoring plug or power board, sometimes called a “Smart Plug” can make a big difference.

Not all smart plugs will offer energy monitoring, but those that do will count the power going to the devices they’re plugged into. That gives you an idea of precisely how much power your appliances are using over time.

It may be that your TV is using less power than you think – quite likely, as newer flat panels are generally more power efficient than the older CRT type telly – but boiling the kettle might use a lot more power than you realise.

The combination of a smart plug and a smart meter can really help you optimise your power usage and costs, especially if you’re able to take advantage of off-peak power rates for more energy intensive tasks.

The other advantage with smart plugs is that they do make it easier to manage overall power usage.

The drain of devices on “standby” – sometimes called the “vampire drain” of devices – can be considerable, especially for modern gaming consoles and other devices that like to charge and download content in the background.

However, it’s not always easy to reach around to hit the power switch, especially if you’re an older Australian with less mobility than you used to have.

This is where a smart plug can shine, making it very easy to cut the power without straining your back reaching for a plug every time.

MORE: WHY YOU NEED TO ADD SMART PLUGS TO YOUR HOME

Upgrade your living space with seamless smart home installation – experience the convenience, comfort, and control of a connected home today.

3. Install smart lights

One of the easiest ways to cut down on your power usage is to switch everything off. Taken to its logical extreme, you could flip the main fuse switch on your power board.

You’d save a lot of money, but you’d also be left in the dark and at the mercy of the elements when the sun goes down, which is less than ideal.

This is where it can make sense to switch to smart light bulbs. These connect up to your home network, either via a small hub device, or in some cases directly to your home Wi-Fi, enabling smart on/off timing, dimming and (depending on the bulb) colour modifications as well.

It’s not so much the fun side that you should consider for smart bulbs, however. It’s the fact that you can both dim them – lowering their power consumption – and remotely switch them off, lessening power wastage whether you’re at home or away.

There’s a definite balancing act here, because good smart light bulbs are more expensive generally than the regular kind. You can get cheap smart lights, but they’re often of lesser quality, whether that’s in their light flexibility or smart home features.

One tip here for buying smart light bulbs is to check before you buy that you’re getting the right compatible type. Most Australian light bulbs are either what’s called the “Edison” type with a screw in thread, or the “Bayonet” type, with prongs that do a half turn to fit into their socket.

You can typically pick them from the first letter of their bulb code, which matches that type – so a B22 bulb is a bayonet type, while an E27 is an Edison type. Unscrew one of your existing bulbs to check before you buy to save yourself installation or refund headaches down the track.

MORE: A GUIDE TO SMART LIGHTING

4. Control the temperature from anywhere

A smart system is an even more important consideration for home heating, because it’s often such a huge part of our overall power bills.

Being able to smartly set optimal temperatures and maintain them leads to a more comfortable home in the winter and the summer, but also one that’s cheaper to run. Forgot to switch off the home AC when you left?

Without a smart system, you’d be stuck with the bill, but with one it’s just a tap of a smartphone screen to fix the problem.

Equally, if you get home at variable times from work, as so many of us do, you can set your home AC or heater to fire up before you get home, ensuring you return to an optimally heated home, without needing to keep it going 24/7, running up your power bills in the process.

What if you’ve got an existing AC or heating system that isn’t “smart”?

There are third party systems such as Tado that offer a simple Wi-Fi enabled way to make most “dumb” AC systems into “Smart” ones by mimicking their infrared remote-control calls, so you can still make them intelligent and save money as you go.

MORE: Tado Smart AC Control V3+ Review

5. Consider solar power

A lot of Australian households have become solar homes, with an estimated 30% of homes now using solar power to some extent.

While the days where you could get big money back from the power companies with solar are more or less gone, the big benefit these days in considering a solar system comes with cutting back on your reliance on the wider grid, slicing down your power bills in the process.

Of course, that makes the most sense if you can also schedule your heavy power usage activities during daytime when your solar panels are making power for you, although that can be offset to an extent with a home solar battery.

Again, you do need to do some careful financial calculations there, as home solar batteries aren’t exactly inexpensive either.

For some Australians solar will never be a factor, because they rent, or because their properties are obscured by trees, tall buildings or nearby landscape features that make solar power a non-starter.

However, there’s a simple, solar-led trick you can use without spending a cent on solar panels.

It’s switching out using your dryer for clothes against using a clothes line or rack, and letting the sun do the work for you for free.

Some estimates put the cost of doing around 3 loads a week over a year as adding more than $200 to your annual power bill. Even if you had to buy a few clothes racks to hang the clothes on, you’re not going to hit that kind of level of spending unless you like very fancy clothes racks.

They can be extremely useful, because there are plenty of times when interacting with your phone in a hands-free manner is quite desirable.

In-car usage is the obvious case, where it’s both legally prudent and safety-conscious not to touch your screen, but there are plenty of other situations where being able to say “Hey Siri” or “Hey Google” and then invoking a command is super handy.

But what if you don’t want them listening in for their command words in specific situations? They’re “smart” assistants, except when they’re not, firing up at the most inopportune times. I’ve had a few instances myself on live radio where Siri’s decided to interpret what I was saying as a command to my Apple watch, suddenly bursting into life. That’s less than desirable, for sure.

Which virtual assistant do I have?

If you’ve got an iPhone, it’ll be running with Apple’s Siri assistant. It’s possible to load other assistants onto an iPhone, such as Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa, but Siri is the default.

If you have an Android phone – made by companies such as Samsung, Google, Oppo, Motorola or realme, to name just a few – then you’ll at least have Google Assistant, and possibly other pre-loaded assistants as well. Samsung has its own assistant, called Bixby loaded onto many of its phones, for example.

In this guide I’ll focus on the two most prevalent assistants, Google’s Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri.

How do I silence Siri on an iPhone?

Apple provides a bunch of ways to invoke Siri, and nearly as many to fine tune exactly how and where you want to interact with it.

To make changes, open up the Settings app on your iPhone, and then scroll down to the section labelled “Siri & Search”.

From there you’ve got choices for it to listen for the “Hey Siri” command. If it’s on, the slider will be to the right with a green side. Tap it to switch it off if you don’t want Siri to work from that voice command. You can also switch on or off the ability to invoke Siri from the side button here, allow it to work or not when your iPhone is locked and change the default Siri voice if you like.

How do I gag Google Assistant?

On most Google phones, what you’ll need to do to stop Google Assistant listening for commands is hidden behind a few layers of menus.

Open up the Google app – if your phone has a prominent Google search bar on the main screen you can just tap on that – and then the picture of your account icon at the top right.

Then choose Settings, then Google Assistant, and then Hey Google & Voice Match. Phew, that’s quite a lot – are you still with me?

The reason why it’s more deeply layered than with Apple’s Siri is because Google lets you set Google Assistant listening privileges across multiple devices, all set from your Google Account. If you’ve followed my instructions, you’ll see a switch for “Hey Google”, which you can disable if you don’t want Google listening in for any reason. You can also set that for other devices registered to your Google account here, as well as go through voice training to get your assistant to better recognise your voice from here.

If you need help setting up your new phone or getting your current device in order, give Geeks2U a call today!

1) Text too small? The scroll wheel can help with that

You’re probably aware that you can use the scroll wheel on your mouse to scroll up and down web pages or documents. But what if you’re still left straining to make out the text?

If you hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard while spinning the scroll wheel, you can quickly adjust the text size of just about anything, making it easier read by scrolling up – or getting more information on your screen by shrinking the text if you scroll down.

MORE: Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse Review

2) Tame your wild mouse by selecting its speed

This is one of the simplest mouse tricks – and it applies to trackpad users too – because it allows you to adjust the “speed” at which your mouse cursor moves across the screen. On Windows, open a search command and type in “Mouse Settings”.

From there, there’s a slider for Mouse pointer speed. Further to the right is faster, further to the left is slower. You can experiment to find the feeling that works best for you, whether you’re impatient to shift faster, or find you’re always losing the mouse pointer because it flies too rapidly for your needs.

3) Open web pages in a new tab with your mouse

If you click in the regular way on most web pages, they will open in the current tab of your web browser. That’s fine if you don’t want or need the current page anymore, but what if you do?

There are ways for web page designers to force new tabs to open, but it’s not common, and you’d rather have your choice, right?

To open a new web link as its own tab within your browser, hold down the CTRL key while clicking on the link. That will open the link in a new tab, while leaving you on the existing tab and web page. You can then click across to it at your leisure or continue the page you were on and then read it later.

4) Make web pages scroll for you automatically

There’s something quite comforting about a long read on a web page, but it can become a little irritating to have to keep scrolling down every time you reach the bottom of the text on your screen. If only there was a way to make the text scroll down like a teleprompter…

And of course, there is. On a longer web page, if you hover your mouse cursor over the side scroll bar on the right-hand side and then click the scroll wheel in, the cursor will change shape to a circle with up and down triangles on it.

Very gently, move the mouse down just a fraction on your desk, and the page will start scrolling down. The scroll speed is directly relative to the speed of that initial movement, so if you find it zipping down too fast, click the scroll wheel again and try with a smaller movement. If you get to a section you want to stop automatic scrolling, just tap the scroll wheel in once.

MORE: Logitech MX Vertical Mouse and Ergo KK860 Keyboard Review

5) Use your keyboard like a mouse with Mouse Keys

If the shape of a mouse doesn’t suit your hands – or you don’t have an easy desk space to flick a mouse around with – it’s possible to use a full keyboard to control the mouse pointer. It’s a feature that Microsoft calls “Mouse Keys” because… well… you’re controlling the mouse with keys. Pretty obvious, really.

What’s not as obvious is how you enable this feature. It’s part of Windows Accessibility, and to enable it, you’ll need to head to the Accessibility section. You can do this by pressing Start, then Settings, then Accessibility, or directly by pressing in the Windows key and the U key simultaneously.

Scroll down to the “Interaction” section, select Mouse and then toggle the Mouse Keys section on. This uses the number pad on a full keyboard to control mouse direction. From here the 8, 6, 2 and 4 keys will do standard up, right, down, and left controls, while 7,9,3 and 1 will handle diagonal movement. You can adjust the speed of mouse keys within this interface too.

What about clicking? That’s what the 5 key is for, with the “/” and “-” keys switching you between the left and right mouse buttons.

Trust our experienced technicians for reliable computer repair services – we’ll diagnose and resolve any issues to get your device back up and running smoothly.

But if I were buying tech with my tax return, and assuming I was going to end up with more than the price of a beer sitting in my pocket, I’d try to match it to my needs as well as my wants. Those can vary too, so I’ve assembled a few wishlists to match different needs – or at least get you thinking about what you could buy.

Can I claim tax on my tech purchases?

It’s a complex subject – and to be clear, this isn’t intended as financial advice and you should always talk to a qualified financial advisor or accountant about the specifics – but if you’re buying technology that directly relates to your work you may be able to claim a percentage of its price against your taxable income in the year in which it’s purchased.

There are some differing guidelines depending on your precise profession, and you do need to be able to back up that usage if the ATO comes calling, however, in the same way that you need to keep a logbook of kilometres travelled if you’re claiming car expenses.

If you need (or want) a new mobile phone:

You’ve got plenty of choices if your smartphone is worse for wear, no matter your budget. If the taxman has been particularly kind to you and you feel like splashing out, consider the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3v. There’s simply nothing like it in the smartphone space, converting from a standard phone to a tablet display with ease.

If your return isn’t quite so hefty but you still want a premium replacement, the best bang for buck offering in Android right now is Google’s Pixel 6 Pro. It’s guaranteed to get Android updates fast and for years to come, and it’s got genuinely smart AI-led cameras that can make even novices look like pro snappers.

By the time your tax return is processed, we’ll likely be just a few short months before the arrival of the iPhone 14 series of phones. That makes the smartest long term buy for Apple enthusiasts the iPhone SE 2022 5G; it’s far more affordable than the rest of the iPhone 13 family but won’t see another update this year.

Finally, if your tax returns (or needs) are more modest, consider Motorola’s nifty but affordable Edge 20 Fusion phone, one of the best value budget phones money can buy right now.

If you want to upgrade your home office

Need a new laptop? If gaming is your passion, consider the Asus ROG Strix G15, while those with a more productive bent might prefer the Microsoft Surface Laptop or Apple MacBook Air.

If you want something a tad more portable and flexible, you could opt for an Apple iPad Air matched up with an Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Air.

If Apple’s approach isn’t to your taste, you could opt for the more affordable Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 2-in-1.

If your keyboard and mouse have seen better days and you’ve got a hankering for a more ergonomic solution, consider a Microsoft Sculpt Keybard Combo. If the curved style of the Sculpt isn’t to your taste, Logitech’s G512 is a top choice at a great price.

If your laptop’s webcam just isn’t cutting it for those work Zoom calls, Logitech’s C920 HD Pro webcam could solve your videoconferencing woes. If you’re struggling to be heard in those same Zoom meetings, what you need is a better quality microphone; consider options such as the Blue Yeti USB or Blue Snowball.

Maximise your fun

You totally don’t have to spend your tax dollars on something serious with a work intent, of course.

One easy and super affordable way to make your TV smarter and more fun in one hit is with Google’s Chromecast with Google TV. This smart HDMI dongle adds a raft of new streaming apps and other fun applications to any modern TV, so even if your “smart” TV has stopped getting updates, you can keep it up to date with the latest streaming services. Apple’s take on the same idea, the Apple TV 4K is a more premium priced and slick offering, especially good if you’re also a subscriber to the Apple Arcade gaming service.

If reading is more your style, treat yourself to a new e-reader, such as the excellent Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.

You don’t necessarily need a smartwatch, but they sure are nice to have. Apple’s Apple Watch remains the best buy for Apple iPhone users, while if you’re an Android user it’s hard to look past Samsung’s impressive Galaxy Watch 4.

If the thought of tax time makes you just want to fly away… well, we can’t entirely help you there, but you can do the next best thing with the DJI Mavic Mini 2 drone.

If you’re about to treat yourself to some new tech this tax time, why not get the setup taken care of too? Geeks2U can set up a huge number of tech devices on your behalf and get them working as intended so there are no headaches down the line. Call us now to book your service.

If you’ve got holidays on the horizon, I envy you. Really, I do, because we could all use a break from the day to day every once in a while. For many of us, a break from work is defined as a break from our work screens, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make technology your true holiday buddy.

Everyone’s needs are a little different, and I’m probably a touch techier than most. Still, when I head off on a break, here’s the five tech gadgets that I pack to make the most out of my holiday.

1. Noise cancelling headphones

They’re often seen as a must-have for plane travellers, but there’s nearly nowhere that I don’t go without a set of noise cancelling earbuds or headphones in tow. Sure, they can help block out plane noise and optimally help me sleep on longer flights, but equally when my feet are firmly planted on the ground, I can pop them in and just use their noise cancelling to help clear away the noise and worries of the world while I dive into a good novel or go for a walk.

If you’re after a good set of noise cancelling buds, consider the Sony WF1000XM4 if you’re listening to music, or the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds if you want the best noise cancelling I’ve hit in any earbuds to date. For a more budget-centric approach,

If you’re after a full set of over-ear cans, the Sony WH1000XM4 headphones are my go-to option, although if you’re an iPhone user (and your budget can handle their price) Apple’s Airpods Max are also a great set of noise cancelling headphones too.

Alex’s travel tip: Use the noise cancelling part of your headphones sparingly on long trips, because it always uses more power – meaning you’ll need to recharge more often. If you are flying, don’t forget the in-flight cables and adaptors either. Some airlines get twitchy if you try to just use them with Bluetooth connections, and anyway, that way you can hook into the in-flight entertainment.

2. Power bank

It doesn’t matter if I want to just keep my smartphone going, or if my kids want to keep their Nintendo Switch powered up… at some point, they’re going to run low on juice, and the odds are good that it’ll be at some point during the trip when a power point isn’t usefully nearby.

That’s why I always travel with a high-capacity USB power bank to make it simpler to keep my gadgets going. Preferably look for a model with multiple sockets, not so much to charge multiple devices simultaneously, but more to ensure compatibility with more gadgets. If you want or need to keep higher power gadgets, like many USB-C powered laptops or portable game consoles powered, you’ll also want to consider a USB power bank that offers up power delivery, which we’ve written about here.

Alex’s Travel Tip: Don’t forget to take cables with you – while it’s not too tricky to source new cables it’s a cost best avoided when you could be spending that money having fun! Also, if you are flying, check with your airline about any rules for onboard power banks. Some very high-capacity banks might be above their rules when it comes to onboard batteries, especially if you’re putting them in stowed luggage.

3. Amazon Kindle (or tablet)

I love to read. It’s one of life’s true pleasures, and often the needs of the working week leave me with little time to curl up with a nice book. When I’m on holidays, however, all bets are off, but taking an entire library of physical books with me really isn’t practical – or kind to my spine!

That’s why I nearly always take a Kindle or iPad with me when I travel, because it’s the easiest way to take a selection of holiday reading with me for some truly relaxing times. The Kindle isn’t fancy, but its use of e-ink, which only uses power when you change pages means that it’s up for even the lengthiest of tomes. If I want a bit more book reading flexibility than Amazon’s device will handle, an iPad (or similar tablet if Android’s more your thing) can cover Kindle, Apple’s iBooks and plenty more eBook formats and stores to boot.

Then all I need to do is find a comfy chair, a warming beverage, and some time.

Alex’s travel tip: If you’ve got an iPad or Android tablet, check if your local library supports eBooks – Libby is often the app they’ll use in my experience – and you can borrow a wide array of eBooks and popular magazines to take on holiday with you for free!

4. VPN

Software is, I’ll be honest, not the most exciting thing you might pack into your suitcase. Also, if you want to be pedantic, it might not count as a “gadget”. However, it runs on my gadgets that I take on holidays, which is why I’m including it here as a must-have. Setting up a VPN – that’s Virtual Private Network for acronym fans – is an important part of most of my travel plans.

Why? Because VPN software creates an encrypted tunnel between my online devices and sites and services I might need to use while I’m travelling. If you do need to use hotel or public Wi-Fi, you should never do anything that’s trackable or valuable with those connections, because they’re inherently insecure.

That creates a problem if I’m overseas and I need to shift money from one account to another to pay for a taxi ride, meal, or tourist attraction. It doesn’t have to be overseas either. If the only available Net connection is via the Wi-Fi at the shopping centre, I’m at interstate within Australia, I’d have the same concern.

The solution is to set up a VPN on my smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Using it allows me to manage any online interactions no matter much more securely wherever I am on the planet, without worrying that my bank account details, and holiday money are about to be snaffled by the bad guys. Like I said, it’s not attractive tech, but it might just be tech that saves your holiday before it’s even started.

Alex’s travel tip: The other big use of VPNs when travelling overseas is to switch your country location, which can then switch up the availability of other services such as media streaming apps for different content availability. The streaming services don’t tend to like this, but it’s very much a thing that you can do if so inclined.

5. Travel adaptor

If overseas travel is part of your schedule, it’s absolutely vital to carry at least one travel adaptor with you to ensure that you can plug your smartphone, laptop and other gadget chargers into. I won’t lie here – I have reached the airport only to find that I forgot to do this, at which point you’re going to get stung for the hefty prices airports charge for plug adaptors before you go. Save the frustration and pick up one (or more) plug adaptors, or a multi-country adaptor to keep the power flowing no matter where on the planet you’re heading to.

Alex’s travel tip: Don’t want to buy lots of adaptors? Buy one (preferably a multi-country, because you may have a transit stop where you can recharge that uses different plug types) and put a simple 4 or 6 socket power board in your luggage. Plug that into your adaptor and you’re good to go. Remember that some devices may charge more slowly overseas, thanks to lower output voltages on standard sockets.

However, to your computer, it’s all just pixels, here one second and gone the next as soon as you close an app or switch to another browser tab.  Your computer doesn’t care about the images on your screen, because it’s totally above its pay grade. You probably do, however, and may have hit the situation where you’d love to grab an onscreen image, whether it’s a charming shot of your grandkids or a vital bit of information that you don’t want to lose just because you need to shut down your computer.

You might be aware that on most browsers, you can right click on images to save them to your computer, but only if the web page allows it – and that’s essentially a browser-only solution regardless.

Thankfully, if you do need to capture all or part of your computer or phone screen, it’s very easy to do so. You can even often do a little subtle position editing along the way. Here’s how to take a webpage snapshot.

Screen capture on smartphones and tablets

Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS (for iPhones) both allow for simple screen capture, typically of the entire screen all in one go.

How to take a screenshot on iPhone or iPad

On an iPhone, press the power and volume up button at the same time, and you should see a screen flash indicating that it’s captured the current screen. If you tap on that image of your screen that pops up, you can crop and scale your shot if there’s just a specific part of it you need for any purpose.

How to take a screenshot on Android phones or tablets

On most Google Android phones, you can do the same thing with power and volume down, although some will just use a long press on the power button to bring up a menu including screenshot capture. If neither of those works, try searching for your specific phone model and the words “capture screenshot” to see if there’s a specific way for your particular handset.

For example, on modern Samsung phones, you can drag the tab on the right side of your screen across and swipe through the options until you find the rectangle, oval, and animated gif options. It’s really simple to take a screenshot on Samsung.

Images captured as screen grabs typically just end up as part of your basic photo roll app on your phone, and from there you can share, edit and remix them to your heart’s content.

Screenshots on Windows and Mac computers

How to take a screenshot on Windows

For Windows computers, you can simply try hitting the Print Screen button (PRT SCN or prt scr on some keyboards), but that’s an imprecise tool that won’t often work well – and in any case, it classically just captures the screen and you’d then have to paste it into an app to do anything with it. There’s an even easier way to take a screenshot on PC.

The Windows Screen Snipping tool is a much better option. Press the Windows Key, the Shift key and the S key all at the same time, and you should launch the screen snipping tool. You can then capture the whole desktop, rectangular selections or even freeform selections by dragging your mouse. You can even save your selections once they’ve been made this way for further social sharing or editing in your image editing app of choice.

How to take a screenshot on Mac

For Mac users, you can access a full screen capture by pressing Shift+Command+3. If you want just a rectangular selection from your screen, use Shift+Command+4. Your mouse cursor shape will change, and you need to drag it across the area you want to capture. Shift+Command+4 is essentially your snipping tool for Mac – you don’t need to download any additional features.

By default, macOS saves all these screenshots with a time stamp as part of the file name on your desktop.

What does it mean if you get a black screenshot? Or nothing at all?

Just because you can do a thing doesn’t always mean that you’re allowed to. For certain types of content, and certain apps the ability to capture screenshots is specifically disabled, because the copyright holders of whatever you’re looking at want to control how and where those images are presented.

That’s especially true for streaming media services and many games. However, on the games side, there’s a whole sub-niche of folks who just like to make pretty screen images to share, and many games (and some graphics card utilities) will allow easy screenshot grabbing while in-game. It’s often mapped to the F12 key for this purpose, grabbing a specific in-game screenshot and then dropping into a specific folder.

Similarly, you might not be able to take a screenshot on Instagram depending on someone’s privacy settings. It is important to respect people’s privacy, and the copyright holders of images online. At the same time, grabbing just the right image can be super useful for research, presentations or just ensuring that you don’t lose precious information. I’ve often used a simple screen grab to (for example) create a copy of a paid bill invoice on a web page, because while many systems say they’ll email you a receipt, this doesn’t always happen.

Screenshot apps and browser extensions

There’s also a handful of screenshot apps, screenshot tools, and screenshot browser extensions that can help you capture the right image.

At Geeks2U, we like the Chrome Extension called GoFullPage. This handy tool will allow you to take a screenshot of the entire webpage – it will even scroll the whole way down and automatically stitch it together for you. Scrolling screenshots are really useful for capturing webpages and highlighting parts for easy communication. Then, you can choose to download the image as an image or convert the screenshot to PDF.

We’ve also heard great things about Greenshot for Windows, where you can take screen captures of either the whole screen, certain parts of the screen, a scrolling selection of the page and more. What’s more, once you’ve taken the capture, you can then annotate or mark it up before sharing or uploading to your document or shared folders.

If you also need to capture and record video footage, Awesome Screenshot is another option. This is a 2 in 1 screenshot tool which allows you record both your screen and from your camera, as well as offering one click screenshot capabilities.

Finally, if you’re looking to convert a screenshot to text, there’s plenty of options available for you, but most modern devices offer to do this for you automatically.

Instead, I’m more thinking of the huge array of choices you can make – but most people don’t – when it comes to the display you look at every day. The reason that the Windows XP desktop – those green rolling hills – became iconic was because so many people didn’t bother to make changes that could have made their PCs even more personal and comfortable to use.

After all, it’s your computer – why shouldn’t it reflect who you are? It’s pretty easy to make changes, and simple enough to revert back if you change your mind as well.

1. Personalise your desktop with an image that you love

This is the simplest and most direct way to change up the look and feel of your computer. It’s also dead easy, whether you’re on a Windows PC or an Apple Mac.

From your Windows desktop, right click your mouse or trackpad, and choose “Personalise” and then “Background”. You’ve got lots of choices here, whether you want just one picture of your grandkids, a constantly changing slideshow of pictures, or even just a simple solid colour arrangement.

On a Mac?Open System Preferences and then Desktop & Screen Saver. From here you can choose from your own pictures or desktop images supplied by Apple, as well as setting choices for changing the picture on a regular basis if that’s your style.

Whether you’re on a PC or Mac, one factor to keep in mind here is that the resolution – the number of pixels that make up your chosen image – may not match the resolution of your screen. For images that are larger than your display you’ll typically want to hit the centre of the image, while those that are smaller will need to either be tiled or stretched to fit. For images you find online, you may discover that they’re quite low resolution and won’t work well as desktop images.

2. Tell the taskbar where to go (and what to look like)

One of the more contentious aspects of Windows 11 is the way that it shifted the start menu to the bottom middle of the screen away from the left-hand side where it had been all the way back to Windows 95. Thankfully, Microsoft makes it pretty easy to shift it back if it offends your long-term muscle memory like it does mine.

Right click on the desktop again, click on Personalise again, but then scroll down the list to Taskbar. From here you can switch up all sorts of taskbar icons, but it’s the Taskbar behaviours option at the bottom that you want. Click on it to open it up, and the top entry should be “Taskbar alignment”. The default is centred, but with a single click you can change that to the left-hand side of the screen as you wish. This is also where you can tell the Taskbar to automatically hide if you don’t want or need it in view all the time.

Mac user? You totally can control where the Mac equivalent, the Dock goes. Open up System Preferences, then Dock & Menu Bar, and from there pick from a dock on the bottom of the screen – which is the default – or the left- or right-hand sides. I favour a left-hand side approach myself, but tastes can vary. Like Windows, you can also opt to hide and show the Dock only when needed from this screen as well.

3. Pick a light- or dark-themed desktop

Fans of Star Wars will be familiar with the light and dark sides of the force, but you may not be quite as familiar with the light and dark sides of desktop environments. Classically, computers desktops tended to just be bright blaring rectangles, emphasising illumination above all else. That’s good for capturing attention, but not always the best for tired eyes that may have to stare at a monitor for ages.

That’s where dark colour schemes come into play. The theory here is that your eyes are less strained if they’re being blasted with less light, and using dark icons and backdrops can help with that. It is 100% a personal taste matter, but it’s also easy to flip from one to the other to see which you feel most comfortable with.

On a Windows PC, right click on the desktop, choose Personalise, and then Colours. At the top, there’s a section to “Choose Your Mode”. You can pick between the classic Light, the more modern Dark, or even create a custom mix of the two for Windows and Apps respectively.

If you’re on a Mac, open up System Preferences, then General, and choose appearance either as Light, Dark or the Auto setting that will gradually shift from light to dark (and vice versa) throughout the day or early morning depending on when you’re sitting at your computer.

4. Clean up your desktop, like mum told you to

When you were young, you almost certainly hated cleaning up your room. Many of us are that way with our computer desktops too, leaving apps, documents, shortcuts and all sorts of digital detritus cluttering up your experience.

I’m not your mum, but I can tell you to clean up your desktop. Thankfully this is a lot easier than it seems. Yes, even easier than that “trick” you used as a kid where you’d shove everything under the bed. I’m wise to your ways.

On a Windows PC, one of the easiest ways to sort out what’s needed is to simply sort your desktop icons. Right click on the desktop, choose “Sort” and then a sorting style – I’d recommend by Item Type, but if your brain’s going to work better by name, date or size, knock yourself out. If nothing else it’ll neatly align your desktop icons, making them instantly neater.

For Macs, on the desktop right click and use Sort By to achieve the same effect. You’ve got an additional option here called Stacks, which neatly piles similar icons depending on their type, expanding out if you click on them. Stacks can be super useful for getting your desktop clean in a hurry.     

5. Go all in on a Windows theme

Windows allows for a lot of personalisation options, but not all of them are going to play well together if you go too crazy adjusting variables. Not all of us are fine graphics designers either, and that can lead to some pretty horrible colour clashes if you’re not careful.

However, you don’t have to be, because Windows also supports full desktop themes that can change everything from the background image to the mouse cursor to the sounds that Windows makes by default. Microsoft supplies a bunch of themes for you to try out, as well as offering even more through the Microsoft Store. To access themes, once again right click on the desktop, choose personalise and then themes. There’s literally hundreds to choose from if you’re happy to download them from the Microsoft Store, and you can switch between them with a simple click.

Effortlessly set up your new computer or laptop with our expert guidance.

We’ve created a list of gadgets and tech devices that will help to improve your productivity when working or studying from home. Here’s our 13 favourite gadgets to make working from home easier than ever.

1. Smart speaker

A smart speaker might not be the most obvious choice for the home office, but they can have a huge impact on productivity and stress relief. Being able to switch music on and off with just your voice means that you can keep you documents open and put on tunes that pump you up for the day. Similarly, if you receive a call, you can tell your speaker to pause without having to click around and turn off your music.

Did you know that Google Nest and Amazon Echo also allow you to meditate? If you’re stressed during the day, you can have a quick meditation session or do some breathing exercises. Perfect for resetting your mindset before hitting that deadline.

Finally, you can ask quick questions, set alarms, find out the weather, or get a news update.

2. Portable hard drive

If your laptop or computer is running low on space, a portable hard drive is the perfect solution. In fact, even if your device still has plenty of space, they’re a great investment to keep your computer running nice and quick.

Portable hard drives can help to protect against internet hackers, as if your important documents are stored externally there is less of a chance that they can reach it. They allow you to transfer data between two computers without relying on cloud technology or emails, so if you have sensitive information, it’s a great way to transfer it without additional worry.

You can also use your portable hard drive to back up your data. This is an automatic process that can run as often as you like, if the hard drive is plugged in. If something bad happens to your hard drive, you know you won’t lose precious files.

If you need assistance setting up data backups, of if something has gone wrong with your hard drive, get in touch with Geeks2U today.

3. Bluetooth headphones

When it comes to the perfect pair, there’s a few options depending on your needs.

Over-ear noise-cancelling headphones are perfect for noisy households (i.e., kids, roommates, neighbours, traffic), helping you concentrate on the work in front of you. Not only will you tune out unwanted noise, but it can allow you to keep your meetings more private if you opt for a pair with an in-built microphone.

The other option is a pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones such as Apple Air Pods. You can still get a noise cancelling pair, but it might not be as effective as an over-ear pair. That being said, you’ll be able to take calls, listen to tunes, and maybe more importantly, look cool while doing so!

Browse Bluetooth headphones here.

4. Ergonomic mouse

If you’re recently experiencing wrist pain and not sure why, chances are your computer mouse is to blame. The standard computer mouse isn’t built to be used for 8 hour a day – like how a kitchen chair isn’t made for 8 hours sitting!

There are plenty of ergonomic computer mice on the market, and while they might look intimidating with more scroll wheels and buttons, soon you’ll wonder how you ever got by without it. We recommend the Microsoft Ergonomic Mouse or the Logitech MX Vertical Mouse.

4. Mechanical keyboard

Mechanical keyboards are more expensive than their ordinary counterpart, but for good reasons. Mechanical keyboards last much longer, have a better build quality (no more stuck keys), are more stable and often come with a variety of additional keys.

These clicky keyboards provide better accuracy, so once you’re used to the different feel, you should be typing faster than ever, with less mistakes to boot. They also often come with customisable backlights and keys, so you can really make a statement and style your office to your desire. Our favourite choice is the Logitech G613, which can also be used if for gaming.

6. Desk lamp

A lamp probably doesn’t sound like the most exciting item on the list but give us a chance to explain. Like with most tech these days, the simple lamp can do so much more. Not only do newer lamps come with different brightness levels, but they can also swap between different colours, including warm and cool so you can change the light warmth depending on the time of day.

Some modern desk lamps also have wireless charging and USB charging ports built in so that you can reduce clutter in your space. Plus, they look great and can be used to style your desk and home office space.

7. Wireless charger

If you’re sick or cables and cords making your desk look messy, then wireless charging might be the solution you are looking for.

Wireless chargers are incredibly convenient to use – you simply place your device on the charging pad and the battery begins charging. There’s no need to find and plug in cables anymore – it really couldn’t be easier. Because it is so simply, you’re more likely to have a fully charged device throughout the day, because whenever it’s not in use it can be resting on the charging pad.

Here’s a wireless fast charging stand that will power up your iPhone and Air Pods at the same time!

8. Charging dock

If wireless charging isn’t for you, then we recommend investing in a charging dock. Rather than having multiple chargers for each device, you can use one wall socket to charge all your devices. This includes your laptop, phone, tablet, headphones, and more, depending on the charging port.

We’ve previously reviewed the Satechi 108W Type-C PD Desktop Charger which you can take on the go or keep on your desk permanently. This device regulates the power delivery so that you don’t fry any of your devices and can even charge certain MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, and the Nintendo Switch.

9. Smart lights

It’s true that the best lighting for your home office is natural lighting, but not all home offices are built the same and sometimes you need to resort to artificial lighting. That’s where smart lighting comes in.

Smart lighting is beneficial because you can control the brightness, colour, and hue from your smartphone. What’s more, some brands allow you to create a schedule so that the lighting changes throughout the day based on the sun’s position and your eye sensitivity.

We’ve already spoken about the importance of a good lamp, and utilising smart lighting is no different. You want to protect your eyes from unnecessary strain to avoid headaches and tired eyes. Having adequate lighting can have an impact on both your physical and mental health.

10. Air purifier

Good quality air purifiers help to remove toxins and allergens from the air in your home and office. Essentially, they help to sanitise the air that you breath every day. If you suffer from allergies or asthma, they might be worth looking into or chatting to your doctor about.

If you want to work in a clean and healthy environment, an air purifier could be for you. You can even get certain models which remove pet dander from the air which is a big plus for anyone with cats and dogs!

Browse Officeworks’ range of air purifiers here.

11. Printer

We’re trying out best to move to a paperless society, but even at Geeks2U where we love all things digital, we understand that there’s still a benefit to having your own printer at home. The main benefit of course is convenience – whenever you need a hard copy of a document, you can organise this yourself without having to drive into your workplace or local printer.

It can be helpful to have printouts of important documents or proposals while in meetings. That way, you can focus on the people you’re talking to rather than a Word document or PDF, but you can still refer to it and take notes written notes.

12. Diffuser

A diffuser is another great tool that can help you feel more relaxed while working from home. You can diffuse essential oils to create a pleasant and relaxing environment which may help you beat stress in the workplace.

The right scent can also make you feel more alert and focused too, for those days where you need to get plenty of work done in one sitting. While we’re not experts on essential oils, we’ve heard that citrus oils can help you switch on and get stuff done!

13. Coffee machine

There are a lot of people out there who can’t start work in the morning without their morning coffee. Caffeine can give you that kick you need in the morning, whether you need to get into paperwork and spreadsheets or come up with creative concepts and solutions. Even the smell can get you on the right track!

So, you shouldn’t have to rely on freeze-dried coffee – not when you can have your own café-quality coffee at home at a fraction of the price.

Pod machines are a great option for anyone short on time in the morning, but our favourite option are machines which grind real beans, so you drink coffee as fresh as it gets. These machines are still automatic – you simply select your go-to brew from the machine’s menu, and it makes it for you in less than a minute. They’re a great investment if you’re buying coffee every day!

So, there you have it – 13 devices that if you don’t already own, you should consider purchasing for your home office. Some of these are easy to set up on your own – but if you need help with a new printer, Wi-Fi router, laptop, or any other connected device, give Geeks2U a call today! Experience top-notch laptop repair services from Geeks2U – schedule a repair now and get your laptop running smoothly in no time.

These days, you’re far more likely to find a request for a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) computer for your high school student amongst your high school’s list of pre-requisites.

For some high schools, this can be a strictly prescribed matter, with just a handful of “approved” choices. That limits your selections but is easier to manage, though many of those schools do tend to lean towards the pricier options.

Most do tend to live within the BYOD ethos, however, instead setting a list of required features for any given computer that a high school student will need. But how do you go about finding the best fit for your high schooler?

What to look for in a high school student laptop

Durability

The stationery requirements may have changed, but the reality of high school life is as it ever was. A student’s laptop will be bumped around in backpacks, thumped as it’s brought down on desks and probably dropped once or twice due to distractions, uneven pavements or teens who just aren’t paying attention. You don’t have to go for full military-grade protection, but here a more rigid aluminium-body laptop is more likely to last the distance than a cheaper plastic one.

Battery life

A typical school day runs around 9am to 3pm, so in theory six hours is all you need, right? It’s nowhere near that simple, sadly. Manufacturer claims around battery life are always “up to” figures that often work off very light usage scenarios, which isn’t always what your teen will be doing.

Bear in mind that if your teen can’t always reliably pick up their socks off the floor, the odds of them always remembering to charge their laptop before the school day probably isn’t that high either. Some laptops with USB-C ports will allow charging from higher capacity USB-C chargers, which can get them out of a power pinch in some circumstances.

Portable or luggable?

Laptops have taken over from desktops in everyday life for sure, but there’s a careful balancing act between the thin-and-light ultraportables (usually pricey) and more regular but chunky models that are more luggable than portable.

This matters a lot when your child has to carry them around in a bag all day. That nice big screen could be great for learning, but not if it’s going to feel like a sack of potatoes by the end of the day.

Don’t just meet the specifications, meet the need

Most BYOD schools don’t so much care about the operating system at play – typically any of Windows, macOS or ChromeOS – but that doesn’t just mean you should buy something that has the minimum listed specifications.

It very much depends on what subjects your high school student is likely to do for the life of the laptop. If your child is keen on any IT subject – ICT, multimedia (including some art subjects), potentially even music production – then it can be well worth stepping above the minimum specifications to ensure that they can get their work done in a timely fashion.

There’s not going to be much more disruptive to their learning than sitting there waiting for a file to finish processing when the teacher’s moving on to the next topic. Conversely, if they’re doing more in less computationally intensive subjects (standard maths, English, most languages for example) then a lesser-powered machine is just fine.

Best laptops for high school students

Apple MacBook Air

Apple’s not a company known for making low-cost computers, but the Apple MacBook Air is in some ways a bit of a bargain. Why? Because it’s a generally high-powered computer in a very light frame, making it ideal for high school use.

Its aluminium build also gives it a degree of rigidity, so it can take a few bumps and knocks as well. The newer “M1” MacBook Air models are also very powerful for the asking price, giving them good scope for many years of high school use. It’s worth checking that your child’s high school is fine with Mac applications – most are – however, especially for more IT-centric subjects.

View the Apple MacBook Air here.

Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5

Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet 5 takes a lot of design inspiration from Microsoft’s flexible Surface Pro line, with a tablet-style display and included keyboard and kickstand built-in. ChromeOS can be great for general purpose high school subjects as it’s a nicely locked-down, web-centric OS that leans heavily into the Google ecosystem – which is exactly what many schools that use Google Classroom and Google Docs do already.

The mixed-mode of tablet and laptop in one can also be handy for art students if you opt for a stylus, and its low power consumption should see it through a day’s high school use – and maybe even two – without too many problems.

Like macOS, it’s worth checking that ChromeOS is going to be suitable for every subject your child is going to do, however, especially if the school uses specific Windows-only apps with no ChromeOS or Android equivalent.

Check out the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5.

Acer Aspire 3

Picking the best “low cost” laptop is always a story of managing compromises, because they’re all built to a price, rather than a specification list. Acer’s Aspire 3 will better suit a general-purpose high school student rather than an aspiring IT professional, but with 8GB of onboard RAM and 128GB of onboard storage, you’re still getting a generally capable machine that should outclass the cheaper 4GB RAM/64GB storage options out there.

The stated 9.5-hour battery life will almost certainly be a little lower in real-world usage, but that should be enough for most basic high school days.

You can take a look at the Acer Aspire 3 here.

Lenovo 14 Yoga 9i

If your high school child is hitting the heavier IT subjects such as multimedia or information technology subjects in general, it can be well worthwhile investing in a more powerful laptop to see them through their entire study period. Lenovo’s Yoga 9i is a nicely lightweight and portable system with a revolving hinge allowing it to work as either a full laptop or tablet.

With an onboard Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM, it’s also very powerful, so those school programming projects, or video presentations should render with some serious speed. Battery life is also generally very good, even under sustained workloads, making it a good choice for all-day lesson use.

See the Lenovo 14 Yoga 9i for yourself.

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