Indholdsfortegnelse for 469 i Computeractive

From the Editor

Does Microsoft know I’m writing this? I’m using Word on a Windows 10 PC, so it’s a question I’m tempted to ask. You may ask yourself something similar after reading this issue’s cover feature (page 50), in which we reveal how Microsoft’s new operating system spies on your every move. It doesn’t just know the obvious stuff - your name, age and so on. It also tracks what you type, targets you with adverts and uploads info from your calendar. And why is Microsoft doing this? I’ll give you a clue: it’s one word, five letters long, begins with M, ends in Y, and rhymes with ‘funny’. Given recent cover features, it may seem as if we have it in for Windows 10. That’s not true. We still think it’s…

1 min

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IN BRIEF

AMAZON RELEASES NEW KINDLE SOFTWARE Amazon is updating several models of its Kindle e-reader with new software. The most significant feature is a homepage that displays books you’ve recently read books and suggests other titles based on your tastes. The update – due before the end of February – will automatically be applied to the Kindle Voyage, the 2013 and 2015 Paperwhite, and the 2014 standard Kindle. Read Amazon’s announcement at www.snipca.com/19574. NOW FISHER PRICE TOYS CAN BE HACKED Fisher Price has fixed a security flaw in its ‘smart’ teddy bears that could have allowed hackers to access the account of children who owned them. The vulnerability was exposed by security company Rapid7, whose blog (www.snipca.com/19577) claimed that after stealing personal details an attacker could have launched a “malicious campaign”…

1 min

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Consumeractive

Is it worth pursuing a claim for a laptop that’s five years old? Q My HP dv7-4015sa laptop, which I bought from John Lewis in November 2010 for £549, has developed a black screen and the local repair shop said it’s an inherent fault with the processor. John Lewis told me I had to contact HP because it’s an old fault. Is this correct? Ray Taylor A No. What matters isn’t whether a fault is old, but exactly how old it is. For inherent faults, the Sale of Goods Act says that retailers have to repair or replace the item within six years of purchase (five in Scotland). But is the case worth pursuing? Ray will need a report from his local repair shop to prove the fault is inherent,…

5 min

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New tools

IE11’s new settings www.snipca.com/19503 It’s time to give Microsoft some credit. The company has been heavily criticised – not least in Computeractive – for nagging Windows 7 and 8.1 users into upgrading to 10. And its hectoring will surely get worse as the ‘free upgrade’ deadline approaches (28 July). But at least it isn’t leaving Internet Explorer (IE) users high and dry. In January, it updated the ageing browser to let you ‘lock’ your home page and default search engine, thus preventing adware from changing them. Yes, it’s the sort of feature that should have been in IE anyway. Microsoft had added it to Edge (its replacement for IE) in November. But better late than never. It’s a reassuring sign that while Microsoft wants people to move from IE to…

1 min

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WHAT SHOULD I DOWNLOAD?

How can I restore lost photographs? Q Having returned from holiday, I discovered I had somehow lost or accidentally deleted all the photographs I took. I was advised to try a program called Flash File Recovery. Will this work, or is there something better? Kevin Keeley A We suggest starting with Wise Data Recovery, which has just been updated with improved scanning and Windows 10 support (www.snipca.com/19366, pictured). When you install it, make sure you decline any unwanted tools you’re offered. It scans camera memory cards and external drives for lost files as well as your PC. However, if the files were deleted from your PC, use another computer to download the portable version of the program (www.snipca.com/19367), which you can transfer to (and run from) a USB stick. That…

1 min

Computeractive|469

Mesh Elite Voyager Mini CS

Why do retailers always knock a penny or a pound off prices? Back when Computeractive was born in the 1990s, a practical general-purpose desktop PC used to cost about £1,000. But they’d always make it £999. Some psychologists reckon this works because when we see an awkward number, we estimate the nearest round figure. So we see £999 and think £1,000. Now that we’re thinking about £1,000, £999 sounds a bit less. And a bit less must be better value! “It may be pricey but it’s fast, future-proof and handles all your peripherals” Economists, meanwhile, note that once a price point is established, it tends to stick. The £999 PC was around for quite a while. Eventually the cost of components drifted down, and you could get a pretty decent…

3 min

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Huawei Mate 8

When the iPhone was launched in 2007, it changed mobiles forever. Previously, a phone was mostly buttons. Now it was mostly screen. In fact, so much of it was screen that there was no obvious reason for the other bits. Surely it might as well go right to the edge? Manufacturers still haven’t quite figured out how to achieve that, but this extra-large smartphone from Huawei is as close as we’ve seen. There’s a sliver of space at the top for the speaker and selfie camera, and a slightly larger sliver at the bottom for… well, just to write ‘Huawei’ on. The 6in screen fills all the space in between, leaving only the slenderest of borders to the left and right. “A large, impressive screen makes use of every inch,…

3 min

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Microsoft Band 2

One of the best reasons to buy a smartwatch – and let’s be honest, there aren’t many – is to help you keep fit. Some wrist devices concentrate almost entirely on this, including Fitbit, Jawbone and Microsoft’s Band. This new Band offers more comfort and practicality, with just enough smartwatch features to suit people who want both. Like its rivals, the Band 2 is essentially a rubber bracelet, but thanks to its big touchscreen it looks more like a futuristic watch. It isn’t waterproof enough for swimming, but the occasional splash won’t be a problem, and toughened Gorilla Glass protects the front. The display is now curved to fit your wrist – a big improvement – and presents text and figures clearly. Opposite this is a chunky clasp incorporating a…

2 min

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COMING SOON

SPRING 2016 Apple’s next batch of mobile devices could arrive in March. The third version of the iPad Air 3 could add support for the iPad Pro’s excellent Pencil stylus. The company may also return to the iPhone 5’s smaller 4in format with a lower-cost smartphone. SPRING 2016 Due in March, HP’s EliteBook Folio G1 could be the first ultra-slim laptop to go one better than Apple’s 12in MacBook. Comes with an even sharper screen and a 180-degree hinge for more flexibility, but will be too expensive for many people. SPRING 2016 Lenovo’s Link is a USB stick that connects an Android device to a PC, letting you operate mobile apps from your keyboard or display the device’s screen in a window. Expected to cost £40, it contrasts with Microsoft’s…

1 min

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Edit your PC’s registry without errors

PULL OUT & KEEP Issue 469 What you need: Registry Finder; Any version of Windows (XP to 10) Time required: 30 minutes Editing your PC’s registry can be a complicated process because it involves navigating through multiple menus to a registry key, then making precise changes to it. One small mistake can cause your PC problems. Unfortunately, the Windows Registry Editor doesn’t let you search for specific keys or copy and paste a specific key location to go directly to it. Registry Finder is a brilliant free program that lets you do both these things, while minimising the risk of making serious errors. STEP 1 It’s always a good idea to create a system restore point for your PC before you start editing your registry. This lets you undo any…

4 min

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Improve your Windows 10 System Tray

What you need: TrayStatus; Any version of Windows (XP to 10) Time required: 10 minutes Your PC’s System Tray (at the bottom right of your screen) informs you of any pending notifications or system updates. It also shows indicators for audio volume, battery life and internet connection. TrayStatus is a brilliant tool that adds all kinds of useful icons to your System Tray. It has indicators for Caps Lock and Num Lock, and you can add icons that tell you when your Control, Alt and Shift keys are pressed. STEP 1 To install TrayStatus, go to www.snipca.com/19507 and click the blue Download Now button. Click the downloaded setup file, Yes, Next, accept the licence agreement, then keep clicking Next until you reach Install. Click this, then click Finish to launch…

2 min

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Best New Apps

QuickPark Free iOS: www.snipca.com/19546 QuickPark will help you avoid getting a parking ticket. It lets you save your parking spot as a ‘pin’ on a map and enter how much time you have left before your parking ticket expires. The app then alerts you when the expiry time is approaching and directs you to your car. Mimicker Alarm Free Android: www.snipca.com/19547 Microsoft’s new alarm app will ensure you don’t nod off again because to turn it off you need to ‘mimic’ the action requested by the app. For example, take a ‘selfie’ photo with a specific facial expression (happy, sad, etc), photograph a household object of a specific colour, or say a tongue twister. Playcast £3.09 Windows Phone: www.snipca.com/19548 Until now you couldn’t ‘cast’ content from your Windows Phone to…

1 min

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Make Office Better

WORD Save your table templates to re-use in future Creating tabulated charts in Excel can be a complicated process. It’s much easier to create basic tables in Word. If you tend to use the same table format again and again, then you should save its template for future use. To create a table, click the Insert tab, then the Table dropdown menu at the top left, and select the rows and columns you want to use (see screenshot). You can also click Draw Table to create one manually, or click Excel Spreadsheet to add an Excel-style spreadsheet that you can click and drag to resize. Now add data to the table that you might want to reuse – column and row headers, for example. The Design tab at the top…

3 min

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Microsoft Research

What is it? Have a guess. In a rare outbreak of jargon-free clarity from the company, Microsoft’s research division is called Microsoft Research (http://research.microsoft.com). Hallelujah! Wait - Microsoft actually researches its products? Now, now. Windows may not always work perfectly, but it’s not through a lack of testing. Since Bill Gates set it up in 1991 Microsoft Research has grown to employ more than 1,000 researchers and engineers around the world, in cities including Cambridge, New York, Beijing and Munich. Projects involve all aspects of computing, from artificial intelligence to speech recognition. But things are about to change. In what way? Microsoft wants the research to lead to more products. The company’s boss, Satya Nadella, thinks that in the past too much emphasis was placed on ‘pure’ research that wouldn’t…

3 min

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MICROSOFT ACCOUNTS: SHOULD YOU USE ONE?

The default user account type in Windows 8 and 10 is a Microsoft account. You may already have one of these (from a Hotmail or Outlook.com email account, for example) or you may be prompted to create one when you first log in. The key benefits of using it include the ability to make purchases (and download free apps) from the Windows Store, synchronise your settings and passwords with other PCs, and sign into other Microsoft services. But because your account is online, Microsoft knows whenever you’re using your PC. So one way to make Windows 8 and 10 more private is to use an offline-only Local account instead, similar to the user accounts used in Windows 7. This won’t be ideal for everyone – you won’t be able to…

1 min

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PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY IN WINDOWS 7 AND 8

Stop CEIP from snooping Windows 7 and 8 also snoop on you. Microsoft collects info on how you use your PC for its Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). Microsoft claims that the data doesn’t contain any identifying information, such as your name, address or phone number -you can read more about CEIP at www.snipca.com/19537. The big difference in Windows 7 and 8, compared with Windows 10, is that you can opt out of this data collection at any time. To check whether it’s enabled on your PC, click Start, type action and click Action Center. Now click ‘Change Action Center settings’, followed by ‘Customer Experience Improvement Program settings’. In the Window that opens, make sure the ‘No, I don’t want to participate in the program’ option is selected and click…

2 min

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Microsoft to download Windows 10 without approval

Microsoft has begun to automatically download Windows 10 on to PCs running Windows 7 and 8, prompting fury among users. In early February the company changed the update status of Windows 10 from ‘optional’ to ‘recommended’. This means that the new operating system (OS) will be downloaded in the background of any PC that has Windows Update switched on, without the user needing to approve it. The company outlined its plans to do this in October last year (read the blog post at www.snipca.com/19590), saying: “Our aspiration is for customers to choose Windows, and to love Windows”. Computeractive readers on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/computeractive) responded with a mixture of dismay and anger. Peter Willetts wrote: “Whatever happened to freedom of choice ? Why do Microsoft think they know better than…

8 min

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Is BT treating the British public like fools?

Of all the skills required to work at BT, you’d think knowing how to operate a telephone would rank highly. But two press officers for the company recently committed that most embarrassing of mistakes: leaving a message then carrying on talking, mistakenly thinking that they had hung up. It may not sound catastrophic, but they were ringing the office of Conservative MP and former party chairman Grant Shapps, who had just published a report that investigated BT’s “natural monopoly” on UK broadband. Assuming nobody would hear, they started to ridicule the pun in the report’s title: ‘Broadbad’ (pictured below). “Oh, that’s clever,” said one of the press officers sarcastically, “that’s hilarious”. Shapps wasn’t pleased. He posted the recording online (www.snipca.com/19523), calling the press officers’ comments “contemptuous and dismissive” and saying…

3 min

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CASE UPDATE

Silence from Acer on broken laptop We’ve been frustrated in our attempt to help reader Jan Mclean, who received a faulty Acer laptop as a competition prize (see Issue 465). Jan explained that the Aspire E keeps randomly switching itself off, and has now been repaired three times by Syn-Star (http://syn-pc.co.uk), the shop that supplied it. The complicating factor is that because Jan didn’t buy the laptop, she doesn’t have a contract with any of the companies involved - Acer, Syn-Star or Breeze FM (the radio station that ran the competition). Syn-Star has provided good service in repairing the laptop, but three failed attempts suggest the computer is inherently faulty. If so, only Acer can help. While the company isn’t legally responsible, we thought it might replace the laptop as…

1 min

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ScamWatch

Will BT suspend my broadband? In January, I got a call from someone purporting to be from BT. He quoted my BT account number and said that other people were using my broadband without my knowledge. He said that BT would suspend my broadband for 72 hours, and send a technician to my house. I told him it was a scam and hung up. Worryingly, the account number he gave me was correct. BT confirmed to me that the call hadn’t come from them, but they didn’t seem concerned about this apparent breach of security involving their customer’s account details. Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

1 min

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Asus Zen AiO Z240ICGT

New products tested by our experts First things first: don’t let that eye-watering price put you off. Yes it’s very expensive, but this Asus PC is one of the few Windows PCs that’s worth spending four figures on. If you’re tempted to splash out a similar amount on an Apple iMac – don’t. This PC has design touches every bit as good as those you’ll find in Apple’s computers, and of course it runs Windows 10, a much better operating system than OS X. “It’s one of the fastest PCs we’ve ever tested” Like Apple, Asus has mounted a slender aluminium crescent on a solid one-piece tilting stand. Its characteristic gold-tinged brushed metal is just as upmarket as Apple’s silvery anodised finish. The rear panel is clearly modelled on the…

3 min

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Philips 272S4LPJCB

Twisted nematic and in-plane switching are types of what? You’d probably only encounter this question on Mastermind if your specialist subject was ‘geeky jargon’. For what it’s worth, they’re types of LCD panels. It was twisted nematic (TN) displays that, in the 1980s, first made flatscreens viable. A backlight shines towards two polarising glass plates, one at right-angles to the other. Because a polariser cuts out all light waves except those aligned with it, this eliminates half the light and then the other half, leaving darkness. “It’s very adjustable with a decent screen, but nothing justifies the hefty price tag” But within each pixel, LCD crystals lie between the plates in a twisted pattern. These rotate the light that’s passed though the first polariser so it can pass through the…

2 min

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Sony Xperia Z5

Sometimes the best upgrades are the subtlest. Sony’s Z2, Z3 and Z3+ made slow progress, and the Z5 still looks much the same. But this is actually a great new phone. As before, the metal and glass case (available in white, black, blue-green or gold) is resistant to water and dust. Its characteristic square corners are protected by bumpers, and the frame now has a slight lip at the rear, which we reckoned would protect the elegantly frosted glass back. “Slick design, clever features and great battery life, but don’t drop it” How wrong we were! We managed to drop the test model – and its rear panel shattered. All things considered, you might want to use a protective case. Assuming you’re less clumsy than us, you should appreciate the…

2 min

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Wacom Intuos Art

If engineers Doug Engelbart and Bill English hadn’t come up with the computer mouse, we might all be controlling our computers with pens. But styluses ended up confined to graphics tablets, a niche option for professional artists. Meanwhile, the rest of us got to push flat plastic blobs around our desks. There are times when we could all do with a pointier pointer, though. Years after Steve Jobs declared them dead, Apple is just one of the companies resurrecting styluses. So maybe we should look again at graphics tablets too. “It’s nicely designed, comfortable to use and pretty good value” Wacom is the big name in this area, and although its Intuos Pro and Cintiq tablets are beyond most budgets, it also offers much more affordable versions. The Creative Pen…

3 min

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Buy It

Find out what other products we liked. Buy our new 2015 Back Issue CD: £15 fromwww.snipca.com/19124 LAPTOP Asus UX305 £570 from www.snipca.com/19439 Tested: Issue 447 13.3in is a practical size for a laptop, and this light but sturdy ‘ultrabook’ has a smart and slim design that does justice to its capable performance. Upgradeable to Windows 10, it’s limited mainly by its 128GB SSD, which makes it work fast but might leave you needing more space. ALTERNATIVE Toshiba Satellite C40-C This 14in Windows 10 laptop looks like it cost a lot more. It’s not the most amazing PC, but it’s fantastic for the price. £200 from www.snipca.com/19436 PHONE Apple iPhone 6s £539 from www.snipca.com/18240 Tested: Issue 461 It may look like the 2014 model, but this update is stronger and faster,…

6 min

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Change your passwords on hacked websites

What you need: Dashlane; Any version of Windows (XP to 10) Time required: 30 minutes Dashlane is a fantastic free password manager for your PC. The latest version has a new feature that lets you quickly, easily and securely change your password on any website you know has been hacked. There are two ways to do this. The first is from within the program itself without even having to visit the hacked website. The second method directs you to the hacked website’s ‘Change password’ page, from where you can create a new password. STEP 1 To download Dashlane, go to www.dashlane.com, and click the ‘Get Dashlane – It’s FREE’ button. Click the downloaded setup file, then Run, Yes and wait for it to install. If you’ve used Dashlane before, click…

3 min

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Readers’ Tips

Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co.uk TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT ✓ Stop Avast hijacking your email signature Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been using Avast Free Antivirus for three years and I generally agree with Computeractive that it’s the best free antivirus program around. However, a few months back an Avast update quietly replaced my email signature with its own ‘This email has been checked for viruses’ signature. This affected the Outlook program on my Desktop, and my Yahoo and Gmail accounts online. The signature doesn’t appear when you write your email, so it was only when a friend I emailed brought it to my attention that I realised this was happening. Thankfully, it’s easy to disable this from within Avast’s settings. Open Avast, click the settings (cog) icon at…

3 min

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Games With Kids

AGES 0-5 Pango Hide and Seek 79p www.snipca.com/19549 (Android) £2.29 www.snipca.com/19550 (iOS) Your toddler will love the 15 colourful levels in this game, which include snowy mountains and African savannahs. They have to find Pango (who’s hiding within the landscapes) and tap to find other objects, such as keys, hearts, leaves and balloons. AGES 6-10 Twofold Inc. £2.99 www.snipca.com/19551 (Android) £2.99 www.snipca.com/19552 (iOS) In this puzzle, your kids will be given a specific challenge - for example, joining seven blue tiles by swiping through them. The challenges become harder with each round, forcing players to adopt new strategies. AGES 11-16 *Horizon Chase – World Tour Free www.snipca.com/19553 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/19554 (iOS) Horizon Chase is a car-racing game from a bygone era - arcade-style. You get five free tracks, but it’s…

1 min

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Action Centre

Present without interruptions Do you carry out presentations in PowerPoint? In Windows 10 you can use a setting to automatically disable Action Centre during your presentations, thus eliminating interruptions. Click Start, followed by Settings, then System followed by ‘Notifications & actions’. Now scroll down to find ‘Hide notifications while presenting’ and switch it to On. Silence all notifications If you need a bit of hush to concentrate on something in Windows 10, then enable the Quiet Hours feature. Either rightclick the Action Centre’s Notification Area icon and choose ‘Turn on quiet hours’ or, in Action Centre, click ‘Quiet hours’. Action Centre will continue collecting your notifications, but it won’t display them unless opened. Disabling Quiet Hours reverses these actions. Choose your notifications By default, Action Centre will inform you about...…

2 min

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Stop Microsoft SPYING ON YOU

FOR MORE WINDOWS 10 TIPS BUY OUR NEW DEFINITIVE GUIDE WHAT YOU CAN DO • Discover what personal info Microsoft is collecting • Find out what Microsoft does with your personal data • Protect your privacy by turning off Windows 10’s hidden settings • Disable Microsoft’s tracking tools in Windows 7 and 8 If you’re upgrading from Windows 7 or 8, Windows 10 doesn’t cost you any money. But there is a big hidden cost to Microsoft’s free operating system (OS): your privacy. Concealed within Windows 10 are numerous options that give the operating system permission to record a variety of information about you and the way you use your PC – including what you search for online and anything you type on your keyboard. All this is then sent…

1 min

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PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY IN WINDOWS 10

1 Don’t use Express settings Urgency level: Very high During the Windows 10 upgrade process, Microsoft sneakily glosses over a very important part in the procedure. It uses misleading wording to trick you into agreeing to a load of default settings – many of which potentially compromise your privacy. By choosing this ‘Use Express setup’ option when prompted, you’ll shave a few minutes off your setup time. But you’ll also be allowing Microsoft to collect personal data from your contacts and calendar. If you’ve already upgraded to Windows 10, it’s too late to change this. Instead, you’ll need to switch off each tracking tool individually – follow our tips below. But if you’ve not upgraded, when you do so just click the tiny ‘Customise settings’ link on the ‘Get going…

8 min

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Uninstall and block Microsoft’s tracking updates

STEP 1 Click (or right-click in Windows 8.1) Start and select Control Panel, then click ‘Uninstall a program’. On the left, click ‘View installed updates’. STEP 2 Look for the following updates (you can use the Search box): KB3022345, KB3068708, KB3075249 and KB3080149. Right-click each, select Uninstall, then click Yes. Restart your PC. STEP 3 Open Windows Update and click ‘Check for updates’. Click the ‘important updates’ link, then right-click the KB numbers from Step 2 and select ‘Hide update’ for each.…

1 min

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NirSoft’s 10 Best programs (and they’re ALL free!)

Over the past few years one website has made repeated appearances in our Best Free Software section: NirSoft (www.nirsoft.net). It’s home to an impressive range of Windows programs that carry out the sort of ‘boring but useful’ tasks that make using your PC so much easier. And incredibly, it’s the work of just one man (see box on page 61). We’ve spent some time testing the 100-plus programs on the site and whittled it down to our top 10. Most of these are small (typically less than 100KB) and portable, so they don’t need to be installed. They all work with XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10 except ProduKey. Best of all, they’re free, contain no junk and require no email registration. Here’s our countdown… 10 OutlookAddressBookView www.snipca.com/19525 Many of…

6 min

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Windows shutdown

Windows shutdown never ends When the Windows shutdown message remains on screen for a while, it’s usually down to something you recently installed or out-of-date drivers. You’ll need to uninstall the offending program, and look for the latest drivers for all attached devices. Microsoft’s System Configuration can help to finger the culprit. Press Windows key+R, type msconfig and press Enter. Now select the Services tab, tick the ‘Hide all Microsoft services’ box then click ‘Disable all’, and also ‘Disable all’ on the Startup tab. Restart your PC and use System Configuration to enable disabled items one at a time, restarting each time. When Windows fails to shut down, the last item re-enabled is the cause. Leave it disabled, or turn to Google to research the problem. Shutdown is really slow…

3 min

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IN BRIEF

FIREFOX FIXES 12 SECURITY FLAWS Mozilla has updated its Firefox browser to fix 12 security vulnerabilities, three of which were rated ‘critical’. Hackers could have used some of the flaws to steal personal information from users as they browsed the web. The new version of Firefox, number 44, should have updated automatically on your PC. To check, click the top-right Menu button (three horizontal lines), the question mark at the bottom, then ‘About Firefox’. Mozilla illustrates these instructions at www.snipca.com/19541. RANSOMWARE ATTACKS LINCS COUNCIL WEBSITE Lincolnshire County Council’s website was down for five days in late January following a ransomware attack on its computer system. It was initially reported that hackers were demanding a £1m ransom to unlock data on the website, but the council later said the figure was…

1 min

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Letters

Tell us what’s on your mind Email: letters@computeractive.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/computeractive Twitter: @ComputerActive www.twitter.com/computeractive Windows 10 is incredible – why wouldn’t you want it? I’m amazed by some letters from readers, and wonder why they use something so modern as a computer when their minds are completely closed to progress. Why would any sane person not want a free advance in computing – and what an incredible advance Windows 10 proves to be. I’ve upgraded my desktop PC and four laptops to Windows 10. The upgrades were accomplished faultlessly and without any great need for computer know-how. Two of the machines ran Windows 8 – they belong to my young grandchildren and they don’t seem to be having any trouble with the new operating system. I have never found any update…

8 min

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Lenovo’s password gaffe

What happened? Lenovo, the world’s biggest PC manufacturer, was caught using the password ‘12345678’ for one of its programs. Researchers at Core Security discovered that the password, which is notoriously easy to guess, is built into ShareIt (http://shareit.lenovo.com), a file-sharing tool that comes with many Lenovo computers. It can be used to moves files between computers and Android devices. The password in question is used for a Wi-Fi hotspot that’s created when files are sent from a Windows PC. To make matters worse, it is hard-coded into the system, which means it can’t be changed to something more secure. Core Security spotted several other security flaws in ShareIt, the worst of which transfers files in plain text, allowing hackers to access them. Lenovo issued an update in January to fix…

1 min

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Best Free Software

BACKUP TOOL CloneApp 1.12.633 www.snipca.com/19357 What you need: Windows 7, 8/8.1 or 10 Carrying out a clean installation of Windows is a guaranteed way to speed up your PC and sort out many underlying problems. The trouble is that it’s not exactly the easiest thing to do. The actual installation part is relatively straightforward and recent versions of Windows (8 and 10) include built-in ways to reset the operating system, so you don’t even need to dig out your original DVD. The hard bit is restoring all your programs and settings afterwards, so that your PC works like it did before. CloneApp is a clever tool that can help you with precisely this part of the process. It’s designed to back up all the settings for your programs so that…

3 min

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Acer Chromebook 15 C910

Chromebooks use Google’s less demanding Chrome OS software, rather than Microsoft’s Windows, as a way of getting acceptable performance out of very cheap hardware. And when you’re trying to make a laptop for as little money as possible, you don’t start with a massive screen. So most models come in an 11 or 13in format. Acer’s Chromebook 15 C910 is the exception to the rule, with a full 15.6in display. The catch is that it doesn’t show any more pixels; they’re just blown up bigger (there is a version that comes with a 1920x1080-pixel Full HD screen, but it isn’t sold in the UK). So although icons, labels and word- processor text look relatively large, they don’t look very crisp. Still, we found colour accuracy and contrast weren’t terrible, so…

3 min

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The best… Headphones

Skullcandy Grind £30 from www.snipca.com/19513 A comfortable pair of headphones makes radio or TV on your PC or mobile device much more involving. The Grind is an on-ear pair, which means it rests on the ear – unlike ‘over-ear’ headphones that cover it. It provides surprisingly great audio quality with a detailed rather than thumping bass. A mic is included. Plantronics BackBeat Pro £119 from www.snipca.com/19517 These chunky over-ear headphones have two special features: wireless and noise-cancelling. They can connect to your PC, phone or tablet via Bluetooth, and built-in audio technology can block out background noise, both for you and for callers listening to you via the inline mic. Sound quality is excellent, although the cups won’t completely encircle most ears. Sennheiser Momentum 1.0 £100 from www.snipca.com/19514 These closed-back…

1 min

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WHAT SHOULD I BUY?

What’s the best laptop for web browsing? Q I am looking to buy a laptop for browsing digital newspapers, reading horseracing websites and occasionally playing video. I’m not looking for a lot of storage or features such as a camera, but ease of use and security are important. Battery life is also not a top priority because I can recharge every day. Can you tell me whether a Chromebook is my best option? Ralph Dandridge A A Chromebook does sound as if it could fit the bill. Using Google’s operating-system software instead of Windows, these machines focus their limited processing power on making web access smooth. They’re inherently well protected against malware, so you don’t need to add antivirus software. However, you should still take basic precautions like checking the…

1 min

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Microsoft Display Dock

Windows 10 Mobile, which replaces Windows Phone, is only available on two smartphones so far – Microsoft’s Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL. Its main selling point is how close it is to ‘proper’ Windows 10, as opposed to other phones that run mobile-specific software, such as iOS and Android. And the best example of this is a feature called Continuum that lets you use your phone as a PC. It requires a monitor and a little grey gadget called the Display Dock. “It could save Windows 10 Mobile users buying a PC” This is a small but heavy box, about the width of a phone and an inch high, perforated with ports. If you thought we were living in a wireless era, Microsoft is having none of it. You connect…

2 min

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COMPETITION

Win 1 of 5 Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 11 The 11th version of Xara Photo & Graphic Designer, which won a five-star ‘Buy It’ award in Issue 467, has plenty of outstanding new features. These include a set of paintbrushes that create realistic strokes in styles such as acrylic paints and watercolours. With a large collection of templates and the scope to perform countless tasks, it’s simply the best graphic-design software you can buy without spending hundreds of pounds. To enter, email your address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘xara’ in the subject line by midnight 1 March. Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 11 is available to buy now priced £50 from Xara (www.snipca.com/19280). For more information visit www.xara.com, follow @XaraGroup on Twitter, and ‘like’ www.facebook.com/XaraGroup.…

1 min

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Stop webcam hackers spying on you

What you need: Who Stalks My Cam; Any version of Windows (XP to 10) Time required: 25 minutes Your webcam represents one of the easiest ways for hackers to remotely spy on you. To protect yourself use the free program Who Stalks My Cam (made by software company Phrozen). It notifies you every time your webcam is switched on – either by you or by someone remotely. It also logs which program used your webcam, when and for how long. What’s more, you can use the program to set specific rules – for example, to automatically switch off your webcam when you’re away from your PC. STEP 1 To install Who Stalks My Cam (WSMC), go to www.snipca.com/19508, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Proceed Download. Open…

3 min

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Phone and Tablet Tips

ANDROID Back up your WhatsApp conversations to Google Drive WhatsApp Messenger has been making a lot of headlines recently. First, it dropped its 69p yearly fee and then earlier this month announced it has one billion users, making it the world’s most popular messaging app. Its latest Android update (www.snipca.com/19544) lets you back up your conversations and media files (photos and voice notes) to Google Drive. This is extremely useful if you’re switching to a new phone or formatting your old one, because it means you can then reinstall WhatsApp and retrieve all your conversations and files on your new or formatted phone. To do this, first ensure you are connected to a Wi-Fi network. Now open WhatsApp, tap the three dots at the top right, Settings, ‘Chats and calls’,…

4 min

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Make Windows Better

WINDOWS 7, 8, 10 Add website shortcuts to your Taskbar You’re probably familiar with bookmarking websites in your browser, but you can also ‘pin’ them to your Taskbar. By doing this you can access favourite sites from your Desktop with one click. At the moment you can only do this in Internet Explorer (IE) and Google Chrome. First, open a website (in IE or Chrome). In IE, drag that website’s tab to your Taskbar until you see a ‘Pin to taskbar’ message (see screenshot below). Release your mouse and you’ll see a new Taskbar button featuring the website’s icon. In Chrome, navigate to the website you want, click the three lines at the top right, move your cursor to ‘More tools’, click ‘Add to taskbar’, then click Add. You can…

3 min

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Customise the icons for quick actions

When you open Windows 10’s Action Centre by clicking its icon in the Notification Area, you may have noticed the Collapse option. Click it and the Quick Actions panel shrinks to a strip of four icons – making space for more notifications above. That’s useful, but did you know you can customise the remaining icons to whatever you want? First, open the Action Centre and click ‘All settings’. Next, click System, followed by ‘Notifications & actions’. Now click an icon under ‘Quick actions’ and then choose its replacement from the list.…

1 min

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YOUR PRIVACY QUESTIONS ANSWERED

What exactly is Microsoft doing? It’s using tracking tools built into Windows 10 to monitor users’ activity. This data is then sent back to Microsoft. But that’s not all. Windows 10 contains other privacy-eroding features that target you with adverts; log what buttons you press on your keyboard (your ‘keystrokes’); and consume your internet bandwidth. Microsoft provides ways to disable most of these, but they’re scattered throughout the OS, making them difficult to find. And you will need to find them because most of Microsoft’s snooping options are enabled by default. You’ll need to opt out if you want to protect your privacy. We’ll be showing you where to look and what to do from page 53. Why is this so controversial? While some of us now grudgingly accept that…

7 min

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Computeractive Bookstore

LESS THAN 100 LEFT! THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO WINDOWS 10 This 148-page book is the only guide you need on Microsoft’s new operating system. You’ll learn how to master all the new tools, lock Microsoft’s weak privacy settings and prevent future updates from wrecking your PC. It includes fixes for all the problems and bugs that have appeared in Windows 10 since it launched. Plus, you’ll discover how to make Cortana understand you, remove the apps you hate, fix the dreaded Reboot Loop problem, master the new Edge browser, and stop Microsoft sharing your personal info. BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON at www.snipca.com/17716 THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO ANDROID If you use an Android tablet or phone, our new book will tell you how to get the most out of your…

1 min

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Windows 10 settings your questions answered

Off Our Cover Feature in Issue 466 (see image right) shed light on the multitude of settings and hidden options in Windows 10, and offered advice about whether to accept or change Microsoft’s defaults. We received hundreds of emails from readers telling us how useful they found it, but there were also lots of questions about our recommendations, which we’re happy to answer here. If you have further Windows 10 problems, email us at noproblem@computeractive.co.uk and our Problems Solved team will consider them for future publication. Why can’t I access Microsoft’s personalised ad settings? Q In your advice concerning the settings for ‘Personalised ads’, there seems to be a problem with the website you suggest we visit: http://choice.microsoft.com. I have tried it on different browsers but have not been able…

6 min

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Problems Solved

Email us your problem and we’ll try to help: noproblem@computeractive.co.uk PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT Why can’t I enable ReadyBoost? Q I decided to buy an HP Stream 11 and upgrade it to Windows 10, just for a play. I can upgrade the meagre 32GB SSD storage with an SD card, but my main concern is the 2GB of memory. I thought I’d enable ReadyBoost for some breathing space, but the system tells me it would gain no advantage, and has therefore disabled the option. Is there any way to hack this in the Registry? Surely if I purchase the fastest-available SD card, the machine will at least be able to call on extra memory? Or is there another reason Microsoft is stopping me from using this? James Francis A We…

15 min

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Jargon Buster

32bit A measure of how much information a computer can process at once. Most older computers are 32bit. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels 64bit A technology that processes information in larger chunks. Most modern computers are 64bit. 802.11ac A standard for wireless networks that allows for higher transfer speeds than 802.11n. Add-on See Extensions. Aperture An opening that controls the amount of light entering a camera lens. Bandwidth A measure of how much information can be transferred through a connection at one time. BIOS Basic Input-Output System. Essential software built into every PC that connects the vital components. It’s visible for a few seconds when the PC starts. Cache A temporary space for storing information. Can be memory used on a computer processor, or space…

4 min

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Raspberry Pi

KEN RIGSBY is Computeractive’s Mr Angry This column isn’t supposed to be a popularity contest, is it? I do hope not, because I’m about to reveal how I feel about one of the bestselling computers that the UK technology industry has ever produced – the Raspberry Pi. Actually, my real ire is reserved for the recently announced Raspberry Pi Zero, but I’ll come back to that. So just for a moment let’s think about the general concept of the Pi. “It’s not just technically limited by modern standards – it’s also a dire introduction to computers” It is everywhere. It’s on TV. It’s in newspapers. It’s in magazines (including Computeractive). It’s in schools. And, as the Raspberry Pi Foundation has sold well over 5 million units, it might well be…

3 min