Table of contents for 720 in Computeractive

I’m sure we’ve all made password mistakes. Mine was relying for too long on versions of my name, making them ever more complex: DaN1eL gradually became D@n1£L, while B0oth turned into B%0T#. These made my passwords harder to crack, but also harder to type. I eventually outsourced the job to password managers, and over the years I’ve used Dashlane, KeePass, LastPass and RoboForm. But none of these make the top three in Robert Irvine’s review of password managers (page 50). It’s no coincidence they’re all over 10 years old (RoboForm arrived last century!). As usually happens with online tools, the pioneers become complacent while younger rivals offer better features for free or much cheaper. The big lesson from Robert’s Cover Feature is: don’t use your browser’s password manager. They lack…

ChatGPT has been trained to solve image-based CAPTCHAs, potentially spelling the end of the much-hated security test. Standing for ‘Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’, CAPTCHAs ask users to solve a puzzle to prove they’re human. These have evolved from deciphering distorted text to identifying elements in photos and rotating parts of an image to fit. They’re designed to stop automated software called bots abusing websites by, for example, spamming forums with comments and mass-registering fake accounts. However, many people find the puzzles hard to solve, and they’ve been a source of frustration for years. By default ChatGPT refuses to solve CAPTCHAs, saying it counts as “automated abuse”. But Dorian Schultz from US security company SPLX said he tricked the chatbot into solving CAPTCHAs by…

ChatGPT will now block “graphic sexual content” if it thinks the user is under 18. OpenAI, which makes the chatbot, didn’t explain how it would judge someone’s age, but it’s likely to be based on the person’s writing style, subjects they ask about and specific cultural references. It comes as OpenAI is being sued in California by the parents of a teenage boy who claim ChatGPT encouraged him to commit suicide. Matt and Maria Raine say their 16-year-old son Adam had discussed methods of suicide with ChatGPT before taking his own life in April. OpenAI admitted that estimating age “isn’t easy to get right, and even the most advanced systems will sometimes struggle to predict age”. It added “If we are not confident about someone’s age or have incomplete information,…

Did someone at ExpressVPN read Issue 717’s test of VPNs? We liked it enough to place it third (behind NordVPN and Proton), but criticised how expensive it is. It’s still quite pricey, but has now launched a completely free iPad/iPhone app (EventVPN) for those who don’t want to pay. The catch is you’ll have to put up with adverts. ExpressVPN claims these aren’t based on your activity so they won’t compromise your anonymity. But Proton already offers an excellent free VPN without adverts (www.snipca.com/56084). That said, EventVPN connects you to servers in more than 35 countries, albeit on just one device, which is more than most free VPNs offer. It also has a kill switch (though so does Proton) and some of its servers are RAM-only, which means they can’t…

I think you can file the news that a Freely survey found that Freely is going to be a huge success under the category ‘they would say that, wouldn’t they?’ (Issue 719, page 8). They’re hardly going to publicise a survey that announced the news: ‘Freely to be a massive flop’. It’s also not terribly surprising that Freely will overtake Freeview by 2030. Soon almost all TVs sold will come with Freely, and it’ll gradually become the default viewing choice for the many millions who aren’t interested in – or who can’t afford – streaming subscriptions. But Freely will then realise what Microsoft has discovered this year with Windows 10, which is that you can’t simply click your fingers, axe a service and expect everyone to comply with your orders.…

I have two Geekom mini PCs that I bought after reading positive reviews in Computeractive – the Mini IT11 (Issue 646, page 22, pictured) and a Mini IT13 (Issue 669, page 23). I was horrified to discover one morning that the Mini IT11 was totally dead. The warranty had expired just two months earlier so I asked Geekom if they could repair the computer. They asked me to try six things to see if I could revive the computer, but that didn’t work. Two days later, Geekom said it would replace the computer – wow! But after I returned it they said it was out of stock. They instead offered me the new and more powerful model IT12 (with 16GB storage and 512GB RAM). I said yes, and received it…

MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro www.snipca.com/56409 Price: £54.22 per year Free trial: Limited free version What you need: Windows 7, 8.1, 10 or 11 With most freemium software, forking out for the paid-for version unlocks all its available features. That’s not the case with MiniTool Partition Wizard, which has three Pro editions – standard, Platinum and Ultimate – and three other commercial plans designed for businesses. The Free version offers the basic options you need for partitioning your hard drive, including creating, deleting, resizing, merging, splitting and wiping partitions. It also has a handy space analyser (see screenshot), but lacks dynamic disk-management tools for working with volumes – the formatted parts of a partition that store data. Nor can it copy a partition containing Windows boot files or migrate your operating…

What is it about scammers and daft nicknames? Last issue Zimbabwe-born scammer Blessing ‘Bonka’ Mudzinge graced these pages. Now we have Conor Brian Fitzpatrick – aka Pompompurin - a 22-year-old New Yorker who ran the hacking forum BreachForums, where scammers bought and sold vast databases of personal information. In case you don’t know (and I’d be amazed if you do), Pompompurin is a Japanese cartoon character – a golden retriever dog wearing a little brown beret. His name comes from the Japanese word for custard pudding. He’s rather cute – unlike Fitzpatrick, who has the worst haircut we’ve ever seen on a scammer. He’ll have three years in prison to get a better one, after his obscenely lenient sentence of 17 days was overturned by US judges.…

SMART DOCK ❘ £120 from Amazon www.snipca.com/56380 The Tapo H500 is a tricky product to review. Not because it’s a niche device or performs poorly, but because it sits in so many categories at once that it’s hard to know what to compare it with. It provides network-attached storage for your smart cameras and doorbells. It’s also a microphone and home intercom that you can use to speak with others around your house. It acts as a dock for your tablets (pictured below) that lets you set up and configure smart home devices and applications. And it’s a central hub to connect and control all your devices. But perhaps most importantly, it’s pretty expensive for what it is. TP-Link pitches the H500 as a do-it-all security product designed to be…

CHATGPT Group your chats into projects OpenAI has made ChatGPT’s new Projects feature available to all free and paid-for users (provided you’re signed into an account). This lets you group related chats, files and instructions into ‘projects’, so you can access them easily whenever you want. Projects are synced between the ChatGPT website and apps, and have built-in memory so the AI tool remembers where you left off and can refer to previous questions, commands and responses. Create a project by choosing Projects in the left-hand menu, then ‘New project’. Enter a name for the project and click or tap ‘Create project’ (see screenshot below). You can then start a chat in the project and add relevant files and instructions. Move existing chats to the project by dragging them from…

Niagara Launcher Free* Android www.snipca.com/56297 With Nova Launcher shutting down, Niagara is a stylish alternative for launcher lovers. It presents your apps in an alphabetical, scrollable list with your favourites located at the top; offers useful widgets for your home screen; and can be customised with attractive themes and wallpapers. Some features require a Pro subscription, which costs £10 a year. Best For Easy access to apps Microsoft Launcher Free Android www.snipca.com/56298 If you don’t mind its integration with Edge, Outlook, To Do and other Microsoft tools, this launcher looks great and won’t cost you a penny. Add your favourite apps and widgets to your home screen; customise the layout and size of the icons; and automatically change the wallpaper every day to display images from Bing or your own…

From membership forms and consent slips to petitions and elections, you’ll eventually need signatures from your club members. Traditionally, this meant printing copies, handing them out, chasing people and storing signed paperwork. Digital signatures avoid this hassle. You can send documents electronically and members can sign these on their computer, tablet or phone – providing a tidy, timestamped digital record that’s easy to store and share with other committee members. Better still, it needn’t cost you a penny. The free tool OpenSign makes it easy to upload and send documents, with no restrictions on how many signatures you can get. More advanced features are available in its Professional package (www.snipca.com/56327), but it offers more for free than the market-leading DocuSign (www.docusign.com). Upload your document We’ll assume you’ve already prepared a…

Having a problem with our recommended software or expert tips? Email editor@computeractive.co.uk and we’ll do our best to help Can you clarify my authenticator confusion? Q I read your article on authenticator apps (Issue 717, page 62) with great interest and I can see the benefits of using one, but I’m so confused. It’s not clear to me how an authenticator app is linked to one’s online account and how the account knows what the ‘correct’ time-based one-time passcode (TOTP) is that the app will generate for me to enter into the code box – especially if they work when I’m not online. Also, if the TOTPs are ‘one-time’, what’s the point of backing them up? Finally, if my phone is stolen, lost or SIMswapped, how can I continue to…

Channel 4 has become the first UK broadcaster to launch streaming-only channels exclusively on Freely. It has added 4Reality, 4Homes and 4Life, none of which will appear on Freeview or Freesat. The channels use the Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) model, just like traditional TV with advert breaks. 4Reality has reality shows like Married at First Sight and Naked Attraction; 4Homes focuses on property and interiors with shows including Grand Designs (pictured) and A Place in the Sun; while 4Life covers lifestyle, travel and food, with programmes such as The Great British Bake Off. They’re available on channels 67, 68 and 82 respectively, bringing the number of live channels on Freely to over 50. The move is part of Channel 4’s ‘Fast Forward’ plan – its attempt to become the…

‘Review’ your Utility Warehouse account I’ve been a Utility Warehouse customer for several years, so it didn’t surprise me to receive an email that claimed to be from the company. It said someone had tried to sign into my account from a “new device or browser”. I was suspicious because it came from a random Gmail address, so I searched online and saw that the message had been identified recently as a scam (see www.snipca.com/56299). The email asks you to “review” your account to check everything is okay, and it was fairly convincing. Sadly, some customers are bound to be caught out. Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

Virgin Media has agreed to deduct £33 from reader Pearl Davies’ next bill as a goodwill gesture, after her broadband stopped working for between 10 to 18 hours on five days over a 10-day period (see Issue 719). Pearl had wondered whether Virgin Media would have to pay her automatic compensation under Ofcom’s scheme (www.snipca.com/56119), but this only covers broadband failures that aren’t fixed for two working days. However, we thought her problems might be covered by the Consumer Rights Act, which requires services to be provided with reasonable care and skill, and within a reasonable period of time. Virgin hadn’t responded to Pearl’s complaints, so we asked the company to act. It said its terms and conditions make it clear that an entirely fault-free service isn’t possible, which we…

Search passport records Our modern-style passports, with a photo and signature, were first issued in 1915 as a response to World War 1 and the urgent need to identify people, including potential spies. Before that, you didn’t need a passport to travel abroad, though merchants and diplomats typically used them. The Home Office outlines the history of the British passport at www.snipca.com/56330. Browse passport applications from 1851 to 1903 The National Archives holds several records on passport applications, including registers, indexes and a small number of actual passports. Findmypast has digitised indexes from 1851 to 1903, covering 360,000 names. Not every year survives though – only 1851 to 1856, 1858 to 1862 and 1874 to 1903. The 1858 index is incomplete, missing surnames beginning A to G. Later indexes (1904…

How can I scan and catalogue all my books? Q Can you please recommend a program that will help me keep track of my books. I’d like a device I can scan the book with and then load it on to a database. Can it work with graphic novels too? Peter Lang A Try Libib (www.libib.com). It’s free for home users, but you need to sign up for an account – click Get Started on the homepage, then select the Basic subscription, fill out your details and click Submit. Once you’re logged in, click Add Collection on the left, type a name then click Add Collection again. Next, install the free mobile app (iOS www.snipca.com/56270; Android www.snipca.com/56271). Log in, tap your collection, then tap the + (plus sign) button in…

ROUTER I £210 from Amazon www.snipca.com/56431 Netgear’s Orbi 370 series of mesh routers offer an easy and affordable way of getting Wi-Fi 7 in your home. As the UK is in the process of expanding its gigabit broadband network, having faster wireless access throughout your home is of paramount importance if you want to get your money’s worth. And that’s the big sell here. The Orbi 370 is ideal for those who can’t get a consistent Wi-Fi signal throughout their home with a single router. Mesh systems are designed for use in larger or older properties, such as Victorian townhouses with thick brick walls. “You can finally enjoy Wi-Fi 7’s benefits without breaking the bank” You can buy the Orbi 370 in one of two standard configurations. The two-pack setup…

Q I’ve moved to a small bungalow and need a security camera to protect it. I don’t want to spend a fortune, though I don’t mind paying a little each month to store the videos. It also has to be easy to install, and if I need to use an app to control it, this must be simple too. Linda McDowell A Go for the Blink Outdoor 4 (pictured), which we gave a Recommended award to in Issue 715 (page 29). At £65 from Amazon (www.snipca.com/55574) it’s just over your budget, but we think that’s worth it for the peace of mind it will provide. It’s easy to install, with a mounting plate that secures to a vertical wall with two screws. You then clip the camera into place. It…

OFFICE Change Word icon you use for links in documents In Issue 719’s Make Office Better (page 47) you explained how to link from one Word document to another by inserting a Word icon. One thing you didn’t mention is that you can change the particular Word icon you use. There’s a range of old and new to choose from. You have to follow the instructions you provided, so open a document and place your cursor where you want the icon to go. Now click Insert at the top, followed by the Object dropdown menu at the left, then Object again. In the Object box, switch to the ‘Create from File’ tab then click Browse. Now find your document on your computer and double-click it. Now tick ‘Display as icon’…

Androidify Free Android www.snipca.com/56292 This Google app lets you create a custom version of the Android robot logo. Take a selfie, select a photo from your library or use a text prompt to describe your design. Choose a colour and tap Transform to generate your bot. You can then customise the background, download the finished image and share your bot with other people. Blackmagic Camera Free Android www.snipca.com/56293 iOS www.snipca.com/56294 Blackmagic Camera brings advanced photography controls to your phone’s camera, though not all devices are supported. It’s been updated with single-lens and zoom control, new settings for exposure and focus, and a time-lapse option. Swipe left to quickly access the app’s presets and right to use its programmable functions. Organic Maps Free Android www.snipca.com/56281 iOS www.snipca.com/56282 This brilliant open-source mapping…

WINDOWS INSIDER Save Paint art and resume where you left off The latest version of Microsoft Paint (11.2508.361.0) for Windows 11 Insiders lets you save what you’ve made as an editable file, so you can easily pick up where you left off. Once you’re ready to save, click File at the top left followed by ‘Save as project’ (see screenshot below). This will open File Explorer, allowing you to choose a location and save your work as a. paint file. When you’re ready to return to your artwork, simply click the file to open it. It’s available on the two earliest channels for Windows Insiders (Canary and Dev) and so may contain flaws. But if it proves popular and works well, Microsoft is likely to add it to the next…

What are they? Animations and videos you can set as desktop wallpapers, giving you something more interesting to look at than a static image. They might be making a comeback in Windows. When were they last available? Back in Windows Vista, which launched in January 2007, but was superseded by Windows 7 less than three years later. The feature was called DreamScene. Really? I don’t remember it in Vista. That’s probably because you didn’t pay for any Ultimate Extras in the operating system. This was Microsoft’s short-lived scheme to sell bonus features – as well as DreamScene you got BitLocker (now in Windows 11 Pro), sound effects for pop-ups and alerts, and the games Hold ’Em poker and Microsoft Tinker. Microsoft Tinker? Yes, Tinker was a robot you had to…

If the EEA, why not the UK? There’s absolutely no technical reason why Microsoft can extend support in Dunkirk, but not Dover. It’s just a legal dodge that will infuriate users here (not to mention in the US, where anger is even more intense). Microsoft has made a total mess of Windows 10 support. It should have just admitted some time ago that October 2025 was too early, and extended it to everyone by a year for free – with no catches. It’s now in the unsustainable position of offering free updates to 450 million citizens just because they happen to live on the right side of an invisible bureaucratic border. This will only embolden UK campaigners who will rightly insist that Brits should also get free support. Microsoft is…

CO-OP HACK IN APRIL COST £206M The Co-op said being hacked in April cost it at least £206m in lost revenue, as customers couldn’t make payments and goods couldn’t be delivered to shops. It took the company three months to admit that the hackers stole the names, addresses and contact information of all 6.5 million members, who have been urged to change their passwords and beware of scams – see www.snipca.com/55620. TESCO MOVES USERS TO NEW PAYG DEALS Tesco Mobile is moving all customers to its Essentials pay-as-you-go (PAYG) plans, which replace existing Lite, Rocket Packs and Triple Credit. You’ll get free calls, texts and data for 30 days, before moving to more expensive prices for calls and texts. Data will cost the same – see www.snipca.com/56440. BROWSE OLD TV…

Openreach is set to launch a new scheme for moving customers from telecare systems to digital-phone services. It says this will ensure internet providers will be able to safely move vulnerable customers ahead of the ageing copper phone network being switched off in January 2027. The new system, called Prove Telecare, will go live in October, following a trial earlier this year in which more than one thousand customers were “successfully migrated” – often after engineers from Openreach and telecare companies worked together. The switch-off was initially scheduled for the end of 2025, but was postponed to 2027 following concerns that telecare customers would be left without a service during power cuts. Nearly two million people use telecare systems to contact emergency services, but many require traditional phone lines and…

WATCH OUT FOR… ‘Emergency alert’ confirmation emails What’s the threat? Scammers are sending emails impersonating the Government asking whether you received the emergency alert on Sunday 7 September. It gives you two options to click: ‘Yes, I did’ and ‘No, I did not’ (1 in our screenshot right). It claims that it needs to “assess how reliably these alerts are delivered” and that by answering you’re helping the Government “confirm coverage across the country” 2. If you click either link, scammers will try to trick you into running malicious PowerShell code on your computer. This allows them to install malware. How can you stay safe? The Government will never send emails or texts asking for feedback on the emergency alert, so ignore or report any you receive. The emails have…

LEAD CASE Who’s responsible for a missing parcel – the eBay seller or me? Q I recently spent £40 on an item from eBay that went missing while being delivered, though eBay claims I’ve received it. Both the eBay seller and eBay say I have to deal with the courier, which is Evri. Computeractive has always said it’s the seller’s responsibility to ensure safe delivery of the parcel and that buyers should deal directly with them, not the courier. Who’s right? Simon Rogers A We are. Section 29 of the Consumer Rights Act states: “Goods remain at the seller’s risk until they come into the physical possession of the consumer (or someone the consumer has nominated, like a neighbour or a safe delivery point).” This is explained at www.snipca.com/56306. This…

GAME EMULATOR Google Play Games on PC www.snipca.com/56404 What you need: Windows 10 or 11 Google Play Games lets you play more than 200,000 free Android games on your PC, using your mouse rather than a touchscreen. Launched in beta two years ago, it’s now officially available for everyone to download. Before you do, be aware that your PC needs at least 8GB of RAM and 10GB of free storage – Google recommends an SSD. If your system doesn’t meet those requirements, some games may not launch or display properly. The games span genres including arcade, board, puzzle, simulation and word, and include versions of Monopoly, Chess, Hangman, Solitaire and Tetris. You can play perennial favourites Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga and ‘Cut the Rope’, as well as strategy games…

SOFTWARE WARNING! Don’t install Photo Recover-File Recovery app Back up your photos. Do it often. And keep your backups in different locations. While it’s easy to dish this advice out, not everyone follows it. That’s probably why photo-recovery apps are a popular last resort. One tool in particular, ‘Photo Recover-File Recovery’ (www.snipca.com/56354), has become so popular that it’s shot to second in the Google Play Store charts, with only the Government’s One Login app keeping it off the top spot (see screenshot 1). Seeing an unknown app gain sudden popularity always makes me suspicious. Rogue developers can pay thousands of people to mass-install their apps, shooting them up the charts. And its developer, NetConnect, appears to be a lone wolf based in China with no internet footprint other than a…

SMARTPHONE ❘ £799 from Apple www.snipca.com/56339 We get it. Yearly iPhone launches can be quite underwhelming, can’t they? Certainly without looking at the finer details. This time though, Apple has well and truly upset the, well, apple cart and announced a whole slew of new phones, including the intriguing new iPhone Air (which we’ll test next issue), alongside revisions of its standard, Pro and Pro Max lines. Yet perhaps surprisingly, it’s the standard and cheapestl iPhone 17 model that’s garnered the most interest – and it’s what we’re reviewing here. “Upgrades and refinements have taken what was great about the iPhone 16 and made it even better” On the surface, it looks exactly like you’d expect it to. The subtle aluminium styling, the camera bump on the back, the floating…

What is it? Haptics allow gadgets such as phones and games controllers to provide tactile feedback. You’ll also find them in gaming accessories, like mice, chairs, headsets and steering wheels. There are even full body-vests that react to in-game events by pulsing, vibrating or pushing against you. How does it work? Haptic devices use actuators to produce tactile effects. The most common are vibrotactile motors, which create vibrational feedback and are common in smartphones. They produce a range of effects, from vibrating alerts to tapping sensations that make typing on a touchscreen feel more realistic. Apple’s iPhone (pictured) even uses haptics to give you tactile feedback when changing camera settings. Then there are ‘force feedback’ actuators, which you find in premium gaming peripherals such as steering wheels and controllers. These…

What are they? Four audio devices released by Philips to celebrate its centenary. They revive the company’s Moving Design style from the 1980s, which produced cassette players, boomboxes and headphones in bright colours. What do they do? They look very yellow (though they also come in black). Our favourite is The Tube (MS80) Bluetooth speaker (pictured), with two 5in woofers and two 1.5in tweeters. The cassette in the middle is actually an animation. There’s another Bluetooth speaker (The Roller MS50), plus headphones (The Bingo MS1) and earbuds (The Buds MS5) – see www.snipca.com/56397. What’s the catch? You risk looking like you’ve not bought anything new since the days of VHS. Also, they might be stupidly expensive. So can I do without them? Yes, though we admire Philips’ attempt to relive…

14 pages of easy-to-follow workshops and expert tips What you need: LibreOffice Time required: One hour There are many reasons why we love LibreOffice: it’s free, regularly updated and works with most office file formats. We’re also pleased to see that (unlike Microsoft and Google) it’s introducing AI tools gradually rather than overwhelming its software with new AI features you might not need or like. One way LibreOffice adds new features is by allowing independent developers to create extensions. There are 48 pages’ worth of extensions at www.snipca.com/56318. Currently, only two are AI extensions: Localwriter (www.snipca.com/56361), which edits text in documents; and ‘AI images for LibreOffice’, which generates images based on your description. We liked the latter tool best, so we’ll explore it here. 1 Try Stable Diffusion online ‘AI images…

FIREFOX Preview web pages before you open them In Issue 714 (page 42), we wrote about a new Firefox experiment called Link Previews. This shows previews of web pages before you click the links to open them, including the first few lines of their content, their main image, the estimated reading time and an optional AI-powered summary. Firefox 142 (released in September) makes Link Previews an official browser feature and improves how it works. Previously, you needed to press Shift+Alt while hovering your cursor over a link. You can now simply long-click a link (by keeping the left mouse button pressed down) or right-click it and choose Preview Link. The first time you use Link Previews, click Continue under ‘See more with AI’ (see screenshot below) to summarise the key…

iOS Try the new features in iOS 26 Apple has released the annual new versions of its operating systems for iPhones and iPads – iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. These mark a change in its naming strategy to include the year rather than the version number – the software will last users throughout most of 2026. The update brings lots of new features to Apple’s built-in apps on your device. These include a Visited Places option in Apple Maps, which remembers your favourite locations for future reference. You’ll be prompted to opt in to Visited Places when you launch Maps for the first time in iOS 26 by tapping Allow (see screenshot below left). The Phone app on iPhones has been redesigned to combine your recent and missed calls on…

Some people say the safest place to store passwords is in a notebook. After all, a pen and paper can’t be hacked. But in practice, writing down full login details for every website and app you use is a tedious task that’s not without risk. Many sites now insist you use long, complex passwords containing numbers and special characters, which leaves plenty of scope for error in your notebook jottings. Entering a ‘1’ instead of an ‘l’ or a ‘0’ instead of an ‘O’ will prevent you from accessing an online account. It’s therefore wiser to save your logins in a password manager, so you can fill in those username and password boxes automatically. The easiest option is to use the tool built into your web browser, such as Google…

1080p High-definition video: 1920x 1080 pixels. Also called Full HD. 32bit/64bit A measure of how much data a PC can process at once. Most older computers are 32bit, more modern ones are 64bit. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. AAC Advanced Audio Coding. A type of music file. Active noise cancelling Method for reducing unwanted sound by adding a second sound specifically designed to cancel the first. AES-256bit Advanced Encryption Standard. A form of encryption based on a key length of 256 bits. ARM Processors that are more energy-efficient than those made by AMD and Intel. Aspect ratio A measurement of the shape of a screen. Traditional PC screens are 4:3. Widescreen displays are 16:9 or 16:10. Authenticator An app that generates time-sensitive, one-time codes for two-factor…