News

A Windows game compression tool can save a lot of space, but the article says compressing every game is a mistake. The writer says games that use DirectStorage can stutter or stream assets more slowly after LZX compression, while many titles save very little space anyway. Windows decompresses these files on the fly, so the impact is often small on faster CPUs, but older processors may struggle. The advice is to check potential savings first, avoid DirectStorage games, and consider cleaning temporary files with Storage Sense instead.

A MakeUseOf article says the familiar 3-2-1 backup rule is missing a key step: testing restores. The writer found that backup files copied for months were corrupted, showing that having three copies on two media types with one offsite is not enough if the files cannot be restored. The article says Windows users should regularly restore a random file or folder, open it, and confirm the backup tool can retrieve it without errors. It also recommends keeping one immutable or air-gapped copy and treating verification as part of the backup plan.

Microsoft is rolling out Excel Canvas through October, adding Copilot-generated reports to Excel. The feature turns workbook data into reports with visualizations, metrics and insights, and the reports refresh automatically when the data changes. It is for users who have access to Copilot in Excel, and they can adjust reports with natural language prompts. The article does not mention any Windows-specific issue or fix.