How do I set up parental controls?
Layering controls across the router, the device and individual apps, and being realistic about what they achieve.
beginner1 hr2 min read
Technology
Phones, laptops, home networks and accounts — with a bias towards fixing what you have rather than replacing it, and towards security advice that is actually worth the effort.
590 guides
How do I set up smart lighting without a hub?
Bulbs against switches, the physical-switch problem nobody warns you about, and how to keep it usable for everyone.
beginner45 min2 min readHow do I share a file so only the right person can open it?
The default sharing setting on every cloud service is convenience, not privacy. What the settings actually mean, which to use when, and how to take access back once a link has escaped.
beginner20 min7 min readHow do I spot AI-generated content?
The signals worth noticing, why detection tools are unreliable, and what to do instead of trying to detect.
beginner10 min2 min readHow do I stop my data being used to train AI?
Where the opt-outs actually are, the difference between your content being used and your conversations being read, and what cannot be undone.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I take a screenshot or record my screen?
The built-in shortcuts on each platform, and how to capture only the part you need.
beginner10 min2 min readHow do I turn off OneDrive or iCloud Drive without losing my files?
Unlinking is safe only in a specific order: download everything, copy it out, verify the copy, then unlink. Doing it the other way round is how people lose the lot.
intermediate45 min4 min readHow do I use two screens properly?
Connecting them, arranging them so the mouse behaves, and the height and scaling settings people never adjust.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do we manage screen time as a family?
Setting rules that hold, modelling them yourself, and focusing on what the time displaces rather than the number of hours.
beginner1 hr2 min readIs it bad to leave low power mode or battery saver on all the time?
It does no harm to the battery and is a reasonable permanent setting on an older phone — as long as you understand exactly which things it stops, because some of them matter.
beginner10 min3 min readShould I buy a Windows laptop or a Chromebook?
A Chromebook is cheaper, faster on modest hardware, far harder to infect and almost maintenance-free — as long as everything you do runs in a browser. The specific things that do not, and the expiry date on the box that nobody mentions.
beginner25 min6 min readShould I change my DNS server?
The one free change that can filter adult content for a whole household, block a category of scam sites, and keep working when your provider's own service does not. What it does, what it cannot do, and the honest limits.
intermediate30 min6 min readShould I clear the cache, clear the data, or reinstall an app?
Three escalating steps with very different costs. Clear the cache first because it costs nothing; only go further when it has not worked, and know what each step throws away.
beginner12 min4 min readSomeone wants to pay money into my account — is that legal?
What a money mule actually is, why the consequences outlast the money, how young people and jobseekers are recruited, and what to do if it has already started.
beginner10 min3 min readWhat compensation can I claim when my broadband goes down?
The UK automatic compensation scheme, what it covers, what it does not, and how to claim when a provider quietly fails to pay it.
beginner30 min3 min readWhat should I check on a second-hand laptop or phone before buying?
A twenty-minute inspection that finds the faults that cannot be seen in a photograph — activation locks, battery wear, hinge and port damage, and the screen problems only a plain background reveals.
beginner30 min5 min readWhat should I do about a blue screen or a kernel panic?
A crash is the system stopping deliberately because continuing would corrupt something. The message names a culprit — here is how to read it and what the pattern tells you.
intermediate1 hr4 min readWhere should I keep my files — external drive, network drive or cloud?
The four places household files can live, judged against the five ways files are actually lost, and the combination that covers all of them without over-engineering it.
beginner30 min5 min readWhich ethernet cable do I need — Cat5e, Cat6 or Cat6a?
For almost every home, the cheapest current category is enough and the expensive one changes nothing. What the categories actually govern, the two situations where the higher grade earns its money, and why the connector on the end matters more than the number.
beginner10 min3 min readWhy am I not receiving some emails?
Some messages arrive and some never do. Where to look before blaming the sender — filters you forgot, a full mailbox, a forwarding rule, and the two folders almost nobody checks.
beginner25 min5 min readWhy do calls go straight to voicemail?
The phone never rings and the caller hears the greeting immediately. Six causes, only two of which are on the phone at all, and the test that tells you which within a minute.
beginner20 min5 min readWhy does my PC say "Activate Windows", and what should I do about it?
The watermark in the corner and the greyed-out personalisation settings. What actually stops working, why it usually appears after a hardware change or a reinstall, and how to get it back without buying anything.
beginner25 min5 min readWhy does my TV picture look like a cheap soap opera?
The processing that makes films look like video, why televisions ship with it switched on, and how to find it when every manufacturer calls it something different.
beginner10 min4 min readWhy is my computer showing the wrong time, and why does that break websites?
A clock that is out by minutes breaks sign-ins; a clock that is out by years breaks the whole web. The causes in order of likelihood, including the one that means a small part inside the machine has died.
beginner20 min5 min read
Going deeper: DecisionHQ
Product and option comparisons with explicit criteria, rather than a single recommendation.
DecisionHQ is in development — GuideHQ covers the practical answers in the meantime.