Notebook shipments have dropped in May despite demand, IC shortage to blame
Top five notebook manufacturers see a decline in shipments in May due to ongoing shortages in semiconductors.
Read MorePC gamers have been advised by an Nvidia staff member that if they are suffering performance issues with games, it’s worth trying to roll back a recent Windows 10 update.
Manuel, who is admin of the official Nvidia forums, observes: “If you are seeing lower performance in games, check if rolling back Windows 10 Update KB5000842 solves the issue.”
While KB5000842 is a preview update (which is entirely optional) from March, as Windows Central (which spotted the Nvidia post) points out, the same game-related problems appear to be present in the recent KB5001330 update. So logically, the same advice applies – if you’re seeing performance dips in games, try getting rid of the update.
As we saw last week, when the KB5001330 patch went live (for the Windows 10 versions from last year), some gamers complained of nasty stuttering or frame rate drops – and we witnessed reports that rolling back the update cured these issues, at least in some cases.
Nvidia’s admin is, of course, suggesting trying that very same thing, so it could well be worth a whirl. Note that these issues aren’t specific to Nvidia graphics cards – folks with AMD GPUs are also reporting similar incidents of glitching.
While there are plenty of posts like this – “haven’t been able to play anything well since the update” – on Reddit, we must remember that there are folks chiming in to say their PC remains unaffected too (and most of those who aren’t hit by the problem won’t be hunting online about it, either, of course).
Still, that doesn’t detract from the reports made by those who have taken a performance hit following the latest Windows 10 update (or indeed the previous optional one).
Microsoft is still yet to comment regarding the game-related hitches here, but of course it’s worth bearing in mind that KB5001330 comes with some security fixes – apparently pertaining to ‘basic operations’ within Windows 10 – and if you steer clear of it, you’ll be without that protection.
So if you are hesitant about applying KB5001330, it’s worth remembering that it’s easy enough to ditch the patch as suggested if you do happen to run into problems (gaming ones, or the other issues which have been highlighted recently).
For those not sure of how to get rid of an applied update, we’ve got an article on how to uninstall a Windows 10 update which guides you through the process step-by-step.
Top five notebook manufacturers see a decline in shipments in May due to ongoing shortages in semiconductors.
Read MoreThe best portable apps make it simple and easy to run programs straight from a USB stick or cloud storage to any device. Portable apps are programs that don't have to be installed, and don't change your PC's settings. Provided there’s enough space available, you can store portable apps anywhere – an internal drive, an external storage device like a USB stick or SD card, on a networked drive, or a cloud storage service like OneDrive or DropBox. Portable apps have several advantages: they make it easy to switch between different computers because you can take your software with you, they don't interfere with any other programs installed on your PC, and they can be used on PCs with restricted user permissions (at work or school, for example). Some portable apps have an ‘installer’, but don't worry – this just unzips a compressed file archive and saves the extracted files to a location of your choice; it doesn’t make any changes to your system files. Other portable apps are provided as a regular ZIP file for you to extract yourself. The program itself is an EXE file, but the extracted folder will also contain associated files including fonts and settings, which are essential for it to run. Some portable apps have optional language files, which will add to the size considerably, so consider opting out of these unless you need a language other than English. Here, then, are the best portable apps currently available. We've also featured the best small business apps. All the popular browsers have portable editions, but for sheer convenience we've opted for Google Chrome Portable. Because it's linked to your Google account, all your bookmarks and preferences are automatically synced, making it the best choice for working on the move. Chrome also supports hundreds of extensions, though you might want to be a bit picky about which you install – they can bump up the disk space requirements considerably. A couple of pointers to note are that passwords are not saved between PC's by default, and that certificates are not managed by Chrome but by windows so these won't transfer with you. LibreOffice Portable is the largest of the portable apps here, but it's still amazingly compact considering it's a full office suite. You’ll need an external drive if you want to carry it, but you can easily keep it in the cloud (Google Drives gives you a free 10GB to play with, and DropBox gives you 2GB). LibreOffice Portable includes almost all the programs from the installable version of LibreOffice: Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector drawing), Math (formulas), and Base (databases). The only thing missing is Charts – though you can create graphs and other visualizations using Calc. Like many portable apps, LibreOffice Portable is made using open source code. This takes some time, so it's a few versions behind the installable version of LibreOffice. However, that time has been well spent and it's well optimized for use on the move, with easy access to documents stored on a networked drive, an FTP server, or cloud storage account. The portable edition of GIMP, the free open source graphic and image editor, should be fine to install on any modern USB stick or any other storage media. GIMP Portable is a hefty folder thanks to all the necessary resources, including brushes, plugins and fonts. The need to access all of these means GIMP Portable takes a little while to launch, but once it does you've got the perfect tool for advanced photo editing, wherever you are. It's easy to open files from a local drive, networked storage, or a URL, making GIMP Portable brilliant for editing pictures remotely. The portable edition is based on the full version's current stable release, so you'll get all the latest features and built-in extensions. VLC is one of the most capable and widely-supported media players around. Its main appeal is its ability to play pretty much any audio or video file or stream, without the need to download additional codecs. That flexibility makes VLC Media Player Portable extremely handy. Keep it in reserve and if you come across an awkward file that won't play nicely with your regular music or video software, you've got the perfect tool for the job. VLC Media Player Portable can handle files from any location, including local drives, network storage, and streams. You can even supplement it with extensions to integrate it with specific services - though bear in mind that this will add to its size considerably. CCleaner is the biggest name in system maintenance. It makes it easy to clear out clutter like temporary files and cookies that not only takes up valuable space, but can also put your privacy at risk. CCleaner Portable is a handy toolkit that you can run on any PC in need of a good spring clean. The download includes both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the program, so you can pick the right one for the OS running on the afflicted machine. CCleaner Portable is ideal for helping out friends and family members whose PCs have started to slow down (though always check before deleting their cached logins). Oh yes, and if you’re running it from your Downloads folder, don’t worry – it won’t try to delete itself. Most of the portable software here is nice to have to hand, but Emsisoft Emergency Kit is essential – particularly if you’ve been lumbered with the role of unofficial tech support for your friends and relations. Emsisoft Emergency Kit isn't a replacement for antivirus software; instead, it's designed to save your bacon if your PC has already become infected with something unpleasant. If your machine is acting strangely, just run the program, update its database of threats, and scan for nasties. If anything suspicious is found, Emsisoft Emergency Kit quarantines it to preventing it from affecting system files, then gives you the option to delete it, or release it back into the wild. Read our full Emsisoft Emergency Kit review.
Dell’s Black Friday sale has officially kicked off with some amazing deals to be had, featuring savings across a range of laptops, desktop PCs, gaming hardware and monitors. The Black Friday event runs from today until November 28 and you can head on over to Dell’s website right now to see all the tech bargains on offer, which include fresh Limited Quantity Deals that go live every single day. While Dell has some deep discounts across the board for the whole of Black Friday week, Limited Quantity Deals are a bit different in that they consist of the most tempting bargains, but with limited stock available. As a result, these particular deals are often gone before the day is out – because they are Dell’s top offers of the year, they don’t hang around. In short, you’re best off moving fast and pulling the trigger on a purchase swiftly when it comes to a Mega Deal. Whatever bargain you’ve got your eye on, though, there will be plenty of chances to make big savings for those looking for a new laptop or desktop PC – whether that’s a consumer notebook, or a gaming one – or indeed monitors and other hardware. With that firmly in mind, let’s take a deeper look at the kind of deals you’ll be able to benefit from throughout Dell’s Black Friday week sale. Let’s start with laptops, which is obviously a major strong suit for Dell, and one that’s now even stronger thanks to fully site-wide discounts on notebooks for Black Friday. Laptops are available from as little as £314 this week, and you can check out the latest bargains, including those rush-and-don’t-miss-them Limited Quantity Deals, right here. Even Dell’s premium XPS laptops have money off for Black Friday week, and you’ll be able to buy these desirable high-end portables from £849. You’ll find the latest Dell XPS deals here. With desktop PCs, Dell is selling machines as cheaply as £365 (check out the desktop offers here) and monitors are up to 50% off, no less, so head here to see some real bargains on cutting-edge displays. Gamers are in for some serious treats this week, too, and savings of up to £600 are up for grabs on both gaming laptops and desktop systems. That includes Dell G-Series machines – like the Dell G15 notebooks armed with either cutting-edge Intel or AMD CPUs – and of course the firm’s iconic high-performing Alienware hardware. As well as the money off with Dell’s Black Friday discounts, buyers will benefit from free delivery on everything; which is always a bonus. And speaking of bonuses, those making a purchase this week will receive £30 worth of Dell Rewards coupons for every £500 they spend. Those coupons can be applied to knock money off anything bought from Dell in the future – all you have to do is sign up for the Dell Rewards scheme. Normally, rewards are paid out at £15 worth of coupons per £500 spend, so this has been doubled up for Black Friday week. The discounts don’t end there, not for students anyway, who might be looking at picking up a new laptop for their coursework throughout the coming year. Dell is giving students the potential to save up to an extra £810 during Black Friday week, with vouchers provided courtesy of the Dell Advantage for Students program. Whatever your hardware desire, Dell will likely have something to tempt you, with some seriously compelling discounts – and those extra bonuses on top – flying about from today onwards for Black Friday week. Just remember that those top-notch Limited Quantity Deals change all the time, with new offers arriving every day, so it’s well worth keeping an eye on Dell’s site for them and checking back on a daily basis for the deepest discounts on laptops, desktops, monitors and more.Laptop, desktop, gaming goodness, and more…
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