If your device, your network, and your data plan allows it, you can turn your mobile phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot to get your laptop and other devices online. Here’s how you can enjoy all the perks of a mobile hotspot without exhausting your data within a twinkle of an eye.

1. Saving data in your browser: Download a data saver extension for browser. E.g google data saver extension for Mozilla Firefox(Make sure you download it from a secure website).


Chrome has a Data Saver extension made by Google that cuts down on page loading times by rerouting the sites you visit through Google’s servers, and compressing them along the way. If you trust Google with this kind of data (HTTPS pages and pages launched in incognito/private mode aren’t included) then it’s a quick and simple data saving trick.

This add-on gives you the same feature in Firefox, though it’s an unofficial implementation of Google’s Chrome extension and isn’t made by Google itself.

Alternatively you might want to install Opera instead, it has this kind of functionality built in (look for the Opera Turbo option) again only non-HTTPS sites are processed, so your most sensitive data isn’t intercepted.


Meanwhile, turning off the automatic loading of images makes your browsing experience a lot less interesting, but it’s going to save you a whole heap of data too. To save data manually on your google Chrome browser , go to the Settings pane, click on show advanced settings then Content settings to disable automatic image loading; in Firefox, the same option is on the about:config page, change the permissions.default.image value to 2.



2. Stop videos from auto-playing: follow the steps below for different browsers;



On Google Chrome, Click the menu icon on the upper-right corner and select Settings.

. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Show advanced settings link. Scroll down further until you find the Privacy section. Click the Content settings button.

. In the resulting Content Settings dialog box, scroll down to the Plug-ins section. Select Click to play, then click the Done button in the lower-right corner.

. From then on, a Flash window will appear as a gray box with a jigsaw piece icon in the center. If you want to watch the video, click in that box.

Firefox

. Press Ctrl-L to go to the address bar, and type in the local URL about:addons. Click Plugins in the left pane.

. Find Shockwave Flash in the list of plug-ins.

. Click the Always Activate pop-up menu on the right, and select Ask to Activate.


When you visit a page with an embedded Flash video, the video window will again be a box, but this time it will be white with Adobe's Flash logo (a stylized letter 'f') in the center. A gray bar at the top of the page will give you options to continue blocking or allow the flash.


If you click Allow, you'll get options to Allow Now or Allow and Remember. If you want to allow it at all, I recommend Allow Now.



Internet Explorer



The Flash windows may not appear at all, or they may appear blank. A bar at the bottom of the window will offer options to allow Flash to play. Click the x on the right to say "No."


3. Temporarily Disable windows update and other app updates: simply type windows update on the start menu search box or at the Start screen (win 8 or 8.1), click on it and turn it off ( You can run the updates manually whenever you are on a heavy data plan). Go to the settings of some installed apps and switch off auto update.



4. Saving data in other apps


For Netflix users, Netflix app should adjust your streaming speed automatically to match your connection, but setting this manually will lower quality and data sucked down. Choose Your Account from the menu under your avatar, then click Playback settings and select Low. In the settings page for the Spotify desktop client, meanwhile, you’ll see a High quality streaming toggle switch, so make sure this is off while tethering.

We can’t cover every application you might have installed but if you poke around in the settings for your programs you might be able to find similar options. It’s also a good idea to hit the pause button on syncing services like Dropbox and Google Drive if it’s practical to do so (you can do this from the system tray or menu bar icons).

You also want to put automatic downloads and app installations on hold while you’re tethering, and there are changes you can make at the OS level too. Launch the Settings app in Windows 10, click WiFi then your network, and you can toggle the Metered connection switch: this tells installed apps you’re on a limited connection, and puts a halt to large OS updates at the same time.


There’s no such option on macOS, but it is completely available in the paid version of TripMode (costs $7.99), which works on Mac and Windows computers. The app lets you set which programs can use data and which can’t, so you get much finer control over how much data is getting pulled over your tethered connection, and you can get detailed usage breakdowns as well.
Beyond these tricks the most important thing to do is apply some common sense when it comes to the apps you’re using and how you use them (keep those browser tabs down to a minimum), but the tips above should get you well on your way to saving a ton of data while you’re tethered. As an added bonus, you should save some battery life too.

Source: www.fastbundle.com/2017/04/smartsettingsforhotspot.html

Nice info.

Here are also some Google Advanced Search Techniques that you can apply while searching on google.

See how to disable windows update
https://www.nairaland.com/4021813/how-disable-windows-update#59960882