Run Windows 3.1 in your browser for free!

Bored by Windows 7? Confused by Windows 10? Then take a trip into computing history by running Windows 3.1 in your browser. Jonathan Parkyn shows you how

Boot up your current computer and you’ll be greeted by flashy graphics, smooth fonts and gigabytes of powerful, easy-to-use programs. But it wasn’t always like that. For a reminder of what computing was like 24 years ago, you should head online to the Internet Archive (http://archive.org), where you’ll find a fully working version of Windows 3.1 that runs within your web browser, as well as more than 1,300 free games and programs built for it. We’ll explain what’s inside this fascinating time capsule.

Firefox Fast Fixes

Fix websites that won’t load, stop random crashes and restore a lost home page

Websites won’t load or update

If you encounter problems with sites that won’t load fully (or at all), or they load but won’t update to show the latest information, then try clearing Firefox’s cache. Click the menu button (three horizontal lines at the top right), then go to History and click Clear Recent History. Open the ‘Time range to clear’ dropdown menu and choose Everything. Make sure at least Cache is ticked and then click Clear Now. Try opening the affected websites again. If they still don’t work, repeat this tip but tick Cookies in addition to Cache.

Philips PicoPix PPX4010

A very portable PC projector

There used to be a standing joke about how little you’d need to spend to pay for a trip to the cinema and a packet of fags. Now you can get a cinema in a box the size of a fag packet, and for less than you might expect. The PicoPix uses an LED instead of an incandescent bulb, cutting out most of the bulk, heat and cost of a traditional projector. And, unlike the deadly weed, it doesn’t come with a Government health warning.

Outlook.com’s Best New Tools

Microsoft has been busy improving its webmail service. Daniel Booth reveals the five best new tools

If you use Outlook.com, you’ll soon notice some exciting new tools in your inbox. These features have been in the ‘preview’ version of the webmail service since May 2015, which has been available to selected users. Microsoft announced in February that the revamped Outlook.com will soon be available to everyone, starting – predictably – with people based in North America.

Amazon Kindle Secret Tips

Reset the furthest page read, share free book chapters and get updates before anyone else

Share free book previews

The latest version of the Kindle software, which arrived in February (www.snipca.com/19574) adds new ways to share, letting you send a free preview of a book’s opening passages or chapters to friends (and they don’t need a Kindle or Kindle app to read them). First, tap, hold and drag to select a section of text. Next, tap Share, followed by the method of sharing. To share via email, for example, tap E-mail, then tap Add (beside To), type the email address, tap Save, then tap to change Subject or Personal Message (optional). Finally, tap Send.

Tile, Inc Tile 2

Never lose anything again – maybe

When you lose a file on your PC, you type its name into the Search box and find it again. Sadly, you can’t find objects in real life the same way. But with the Tile, you sort of can. It’s a little waterproof plastic tag – about twice the size of an SD memory card – that lets you track whatever it’s attached to, keyring, wallet or dog.

Has Your PC Hacked? (Without You Even Knowing)

You probably don’t think been hacked, but Jane Hoskyn begs to uprobably don tthink your PC has be differ. Here she reveals how to discover hidden malware and remove it for ever

Malware and human disease thrive on silence and invisibility. If the tiniest cancer cell gave you a polka-dot face, you’d seek treatment immediately, and you’d probably be OK, because the evil invader would never have a chance to spread.

Similarly, malware infections are best caught early, before they can spread and do terrible damage. If malware signposted its arrival by slapping “You’ve been malwared!” across your monitor, you’d download a tool to blitz it, and then get on with your life. But hackers don’t want you to know you’ve been hacked.

Sony Xperia M5

It looks upmarket, but is it?

You’d guess the Xperia M5 was the successor to the M4, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But compared to last year’s model, tagged ‘Aqua’ for its colourful waterproof case, the M5 is a much blingier affair. With a polished metal frame and 13-megapixel ‘selfie’ camera, it would be at home in one of those awful American TV shows about schoolgirls who drive open-topped cars and live in mansions. It comes as no surprise, then, that it’s more expensive than the Aqua, but £300 is still a reasonable price for a smartphone. So is it worth it?

Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260

Big ideas in a small hybrid

Lenovo has made such a name for itself recently with its innovative, laptop-tablet contraptions that it’s easy to forget the company started out as part of that most conservative of computer companies, IBM. But it still sells systems under the ThinkPad brand, once the standard laptop used in every business. And this model does a surprisingly interesting job of updating the concept.