How to everything

HOW TO get more juice out of your phone battery

If your phone battery is dead but you need to get a number or send one last text, warming it up may give you a tiny bit of power. Take the battery from the phone and rub it between your hands. If it's an iPhone, warm it under your arm for a few minutes with the phone turned off. Then try booting up - but work quickly.

WHAT TO DO if your iPod has frozen

If your iPod won't turn on or respond, reset it. It's like taking the batteries out - but you won't lose any of your media files. Make sure it's plugged into the mains or to your computer then switch the hold button on and off.

Then hold down both the Menu and Select buttons for about five seconds until you see the Apple logo appear. Your iPod has been reset and should work perfectly.

WHAT TO DO if your iPod screen is too dark

Have you been using it in the sun a lot? Most Mp3 players have LCD screens that can be fragile. With prolonged exposure to direct sunlight the pixels in the screen will activate and the screen can appear very dark. Stop using it straightaway and leave it somewhere cool and dark overnight. This will allow the pixels to reset back to normal.

WHAT TO DO if your non-waterproof gadget gets wet

First, try drying it out with a vacuum cleaner. Or, put it in an airtight container with packets of silica gel to absorb the moisture. If silica gel isn't readily to hand, fill a pot or bowl with regular uncooked rice and bury your damp gadget inside. The uncooked rice should absorb all the water and, after a few hours, you should be able to use the gadget normally.

WHAT TO DO if you submerge your phone

First, fish it out of the pool/sea/toilet/pint and remove the battery. If the battery remains in the phone it can fry the circuits. The next step is to remove your Sim card, which contains all your contact info, so if you aren't able to resurrect your phone, you will at least save your contact information. From here you can try to dry it out.

Against the grain: Rice can rescue your submerged phone from a watery grave

WHAT TO DO if you lock your car blipper in the car

If the spare keys are at home, call someone there on their mobile from your mobile. Hold your mobile about a foot from the car door and have the person at home hold the spare blipper to their mobile and press the unlock button. The sonic message should transmit through your phone and unlock your car so you can retrieve the keys.

WHAT TO DO if your PC runs really slowly

If your hard drive takes ages to load or access data, it may be failing. Open My Computer, right click the hard disk you want to check, select properties then click the Tools tab and there's an Error Checking option. Select the Check Now button and choose to scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

A full scan will take about an hour. If it takes much longer, or makes strange noises, back up all your info asap and make sure your backup is kept up-to-date - it could be on its last legs.