Índex per 539 a Computeractive

Hugs from your children. Sunsets. Smelling fresh bread. Having a lie-in (if not woken by aforementioned children). Yes, some of the best things in life really are free. But nobody told software developers, for whom ‘free’ actually means ‘with infuriating restrictions that render our program useless’. Judging by emails I’ve received, many of you have been caught out by such misleading programs. These may technically be free, but they waste your time by promising more than they can deliver. It’s all depressingly cynical. In charge of sunsets, these developers would let you watch for only 17 seconds before asking you to pay to upgrade to the ‘premium’ sunset, containing extra shades of orange. Well, we’ve had enough. In our Cover Feature we expose these rip-off programs, and suggest alternatives that…

Adverts for the ‘GP at Hand’ app that promised doctor appointments “in minutes” have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The controversial service, which lets you talk to an NHS GP by video on your phone, is backed by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who wants it made available to more people. But the ASA said the app didn’t make it clear that registering would take up to three weeks, and that patients would have to first deregister from their existing surgery. The British Medical Association (BMA) welcomed the ASA’s decision. Dr Richard Vautrey, chair of its GPs committee, said: “We are glad that someone is finally taking action and censuring the provider for the dubious way it operates”. He also raised one of the BMA’s main concerns about…

Microsoft will end support for the PC edition of Skype 7 - known as the ‘classic’ version - on 1 November, with phone and tablet support ending two weeks later. It said people will be able to use the version for “a little while” afterwards, but urged them to update to Skype 8 as soon as possible “to avoid any interruption”. You can do this from www.snipca.com/29290 (see screenshot). Microsoft had initially planned to end support on 1 September, hoping users would be happy upgrading to Skype 8. But it was forced to extend support after a backlash from users about Skype 8’s messy interface and unwanted features, such as decorating photos with digital ‘stickers’. In a blog post in August (www.snipca.com/29289), Microsoft said it would be extending support for…

Fake Netflix problems My son has been pestering for months to subscribe to Netflix, and I finally succumbed. I enjoyed the programmes during the free trial, and have since signed up. But I’m not enjoying the scams that seem to come with it. I’m referring to emails asking me to update my account to fix a supposed “issue” with it. Netflix tells me these are fake, as does Action Fraud (www.snipca.com/29225). If you click the link in the email, you’re sent to a bogus Netflix page where criminals can grab your payment details. I think many people will be caught out because they expect scams relating to banks and Amazon, but not Netflix. Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

In your comment on the news that Microsoft has released Office 2019, you seemed to question the wisdom of using online office tools, rather than a downloadable program. I used to be sceptical too, assuming that online tools weren’t as powerful as downloadable programs. But then I started a new job that required me to access my spreadsheets and documents on a laptop around the country. I didn’t want to clog up the laptop with large programs, so I took this opportunity to switch to Google Drive, which is all online. It took some getting used to, but writing documents and managing spreadsheets in Google is just as easy as in Microsoft Office. Some of the more advanced tools seem to be missing, but being without them made me realise…

I purchased a Roberts Radio Stream 107 (pictured) in March 2016, and although it had battery backup I didn’t think it worth the expense of buying rechargeable batteries. However, earlier this year I decided to use it in the garden without a mains supply and bought some rechargeable batteries. I found that the set did not work on the battery supply and also the recharging did not work. Roberts Radio told me they’d charge £75 to repair the set because it’s out of warranty. I said it could be inherently faulty, and sent it to them to examine. They returned it a week later, fully repaired for free. They should be congratulated for their excellent service. I made full use of the hot summer relaxing in my garden while listening…

PHOTOS & VIDEOS FastStone Image Viewer 6.6 www.snipca.com/29295 What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8.1 or 10 Digital cameras and smartphones can now shoot hundreds of photos a minute and store umpteen gigabytes of video, so we’ve all become rather snap happy - and photo software has struggled to keep up. Most programs take a few seconds to display each JPEG as you cycle through the day’s snaps, then grind to a halt when you try moving video files around. FastStone is a merciful exception. Its new version focuses on letting you handle photos, videos and folders as quickly as possible. Large ‘batch’ operations – that let you convert, move or rename multiple files in one go – are now significantly faster than in other photo-management software, including Adobe’s…

How can I send encrypted emails from my iPad? Q I’d like to send emails in total secrecy using my iPad. I’m aware of WhatsApp and Signal, but if I use these encrypted apps, how does my recipient decrypt my messages? Peter Hesketh A You can set your iPad’s built-in iOS Mail app to encrypt your emails, but the process is a headache. So we recommend using a special encrypted email app instead. ProtonMail (https://protonmail.com, pictured), free for iOS, Android and the web, automatically secures all your emails using end-to-end encryption. They’re scrambled into unintelligible chunks of data as they’re sent, so no one, not even ProtonMail, can read them. To decrypt one of your emails, all someone has to do is be your recipient – and open the email.…

TSB (again!) I was among the many thousands of frustrated TSB customers who endured weeks of disruption to online banking services earlier this year. It wasn’t fun. Following that disaster, I assumed the bank would bolster its online services. But in early October it mistakenly sent text alerts to customers warning them they didn’t have enough money to cover payments, even when there was plenty of cash in their accounts. Confused customers vented their displeasure on Twitter, with some justifiably asking whether the texts were scams. It is after all the kind of tactic fraudsters use. TSB is working to resolve the problem. But how did it even get to this stage? As new data breaches emerge every week, the last thing customers need is their own bank badgering them…

Earlier this year TP-Link teamed up with Computeractive to give five readers the chance to test its new Deco M5 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi system. Winner of a ‘Great Pick’ award in Issue 508 (16 August, 2017), the kit comprises three discs that create a ‘mesh’ of signals between multiple nodes, providing a blanket of Wi-Fi throughout your home. It can keep over 100 devices connected at the same time. If one node is disconnected, the remaining units will automatically re-establish web connection. Here’s the verdict from our readers… “While testing the Deco, I never had a dropped connection. I tried using everything connected at the same time, again with no problems” The Deco M5 passed the first test because it was easy to set up. I plugged in the…

The latest version of MAGIX’s award-winning Movie Edit Pro software makes it ever faster and easier to create brilliant videos, giving you powerful cutting tools to modify everything just the way you want it. Using the new ‘Active destination’ feature, you can drag and drop videos, effects (up to 1,500!) and music to your timeline with the utmost precision (see screenshot). Also new is ‘Chapter export’, which lets you export individual chapters rather than your entire video. In addition, the revamped ‘Plug-ins’ section gives you a better overview of the effects, letting you preview your movie as you apply them. To enter, email your address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘magix’ in the subject line by midnight on 6 November. You can buy Movie Edit Pro Plus for £79.99 from www.magix.com/gb, as…

I recently bought a home-cinema system that lets me connect any device to it using Bluetooth. While this worked like a charm with my phone and tablet, one device that didn’t have Bluetooth was my PC - and of course this is where I had most of my music collection stored. It’s an old Toshiba model that came out well before Bluetooth came as standard in PCs. Even though it’s a few years old, it still performs very well, so I didn’t see any reason to buy a new one. Researching a solution to my problem I found a cheap way to add Bluetooth functionality to any PC that lacks it by using a USB Bluetooth adapter. I opted for the Avantree USB Bluetooth for £10 from Amazon (www.snipca.com/29326). I…

Asus ZenBook Flip S From £899 from www.snipca.com/29378 A few years ago I bought a Windows laptop with modest specifications fairly cheaply. After only a few months, I noticed it was taking longer to boot and a year later, even basic tasks like opening photos seemed to take an age. I decided to sell that PC and spend extra on a more powerful laptop. I was contemplating the Asus ZenBook Flip S and your review in Issue 536 only confirmed my choice. Compared to my old laptop, this is lightning fast. It boots in under 20 seconds and opens all programs (including large ones like Office and Photoshop) instantly. The feature I like most is that I can bend it like a tent (see screenshot), which is ideal for watching…

Office Lens Free www.snipca.com/29402 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/29403 (iOS) Microsoft’s Office Lens lets you scan text from a white- or blackboard, document, business card and photo. It features options for removing glare and adjusting brightness and contrast. You can then save your file to OneDrive and edit text in OneNote or Microsoft Word. Best for: People who use Microsoft Office apps Adobe Scan Free www.snipca.com/29404 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/29405 (iOS) With Adobe Scan, you simply point your device at any typed or handwritten text and the app will automatically take a photo of it then scan it. The app includes an editor that lets you annotate and highlight your scanned documents and add comments. Best for: Annotating and highlighting scanned text Text Fairy Free www.snipca.com/29406 (Android) If you want an app that lets you quickly scan text…

POWERPOINT Set your presentation to play on a loop If you’ve created a visual presentation, such as a photo slideshow, there’s an easy way to set it to play on a loop, which helps you double- and triple-check your presentation for errors. To do this, click the SlideShow tab, then Set Up Slide Show in the Set Up section. In the ‘Show options’ section, tick ‘Loop continuously until ‘Esc’’ (see screenshot below). Tick the boxes immediately below that if you want to play your slideshow without any narration or animation effects. If you only want to play a certain number of slides on a loop, select From at the top right, set the From and To fields to the numbered slides you want, then click OK to confirm. Finally, click…

STEP 1 Go to www.contactmonkey.com, click the Free Trial button 1, select ‘Prospects & Customers’, fill in your details, including your email service 2, then click Sign Up 3. Next, install the extension, then log into your email and ContactMonkey accounts when prompted. STEP 2 You’ll now see a new panel on the right of your inbox 1. When you write a new email, you’ll see options to track it and any links clicked within it (both boxes are ticked by default) 2. After you send your email, you’ll see instant notifications whenever recipients open it and any links in it. STEP 3 Click Open Dashboard 1 to see your email statistics in a separate window. Here, you’ll see a graph recording how many people have opened your email each…

DELETE DUPLICATE FILES DON’T USE Duplicate File Finder www.ashisoft.com Duplicate files are a pain. Accumulating over the years, they eat up valuable space on your hard drive, often without you ever knowing they exist. Duplicate File Finder offers to identify and remove these space hogs. However, while it does a great job of hunting them down, it will only delete them once you’ve upgraded to the Pro version (for £23). Developer Ashisoft can argue all it likes that the program’s name promises to only find duplicates, not delete them, but its website deftly avoids making it clear that removal of said file will cost you. And so having spent time scanning and identifying duplicate files, we were hit with the message ‘This feature is not available in the Trial Edition’…

Besides the deleted files disaster (see News, page 6), the October Update has other problems: No internet connection We lost the internet connection on two of our computers after installing the October Update, which was only resolved by resetting our network settings. To do this, open the Settings app, select ‘Network & Internet’, then click ‘Network reset’ from the options on the right. This deletes all login information for known networks, so you’ll be asked for your wireless network key when connecting. Battery drainage If your computer has an Intel Audio Display driver (used to transmit audio over an HDMI cable), the October Update may display a warning before installing. To compound the problem, the warning includes a confusing ‘Confirm’ button 1 (see screenshot) that, when clicked, continues the update.…

1080p Of the common types of high-definition video, this is the best quality: 1920x1080 pixels. 32bit/64bit A measure of how much information a computer can process at once. Most older computers are 32bit, more modern ones are 64bit. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. 720p A common resolution of high-definition video: 1280x720 pixels. AMOLED Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. An alternative technology to LCD for creating flat-panel screens. Augmented reality Lets you view the real world on a screen and add elements from the digital world. Beta A version of software that’s being tested. Beta versions are often released so problems can be ironed out. Cache A temporary space for storing information. Can be memory used on a computer processor, or space on a hard drive used…

75 PER CENT OF UNDER-FIVES HAVE PHONES Three-quarters of UK children under five now have access to a phone, tablet or computer, according to a study from market researcher Childwise that surveyed more than 1,000 parents. Much of their time is spent watching videos, with an average viewing time of two hours 48 minutes, longer by 12 minutes than 2017. The BBC’s CBeebies was the most popular TV channel, and YouTube the most used app. AMAZON RELEASES FIRST 4K TV STICK Amazon has launched its first Fire TV Stick for 4K televisions. It plugs into the HDMI slot on your TV, and contains 200,000 films and TV episodes from Amazon Prime Video, BBC, Netflix, ITV, Channel 4, YouTube and others. It costs £49.99, £10 more than the standard non-4K Fire…

Broadband customers risk paying unexpected early-termination fees under new rules that force internet service providers (ISPs) to remind them when their initial discounted contract is coming to an end. Telecoms regulator Ofcom is considering proposals that would oblige ISPs to contact customers between 40 to 70 days before their contract expires. This would give customers plenty of time to switch to another deal, rather than be automatically moved by their existing ISP to a more expensive package. Research from comparison site uSwitch shows the average price rise is 62 per cent. UK customers stand to save around £1bn a year by switching, it said, adding that three-quarters of people would switch provider if given enough time. But uSwitch warned also that being reminded too early would deter many customers from…

LEAD CASE Can I return a smart TV for ‘spying’ on me? Q I’ve serious privacy concerns with the apps that come with a Polaroid smart TV I bought for £300 from Asda. Unless I accept that using the apps will expose virtually my whole digital life to the manufacturer, I can’t use all the features. Asda has refused to let me return it because it’s not faulty. Can it do this? Paul Smith A Yes, Asda can refuse to accept the TV because it’s not inherently faulty. Despite Paul’s concerns, he isn’t owed a refund. When we explained this to Paul, he acknowledged that he was very happy with the quality of the TV, but said he felt the need to “vent” about how much personal information would be…

Decipher old certificates and documents One common problem you’ll probably encounter as you find old certificates and documents is deciphering handwriting. The older a document is, the more likely it is to be handwritten, not typed. Early censuses were filled in by assessors, before the head of the household took over in 1911. What makes it harder is that how English is written has evolved over the years. For example, the letter ‘s’ was often written back to front in a way that made it appear like an ‘f’ character. Digitise documents with GenScriber Most genealogy documents are downloaded from the internet, which means they’re already digitised. But if you order a paper certificate by post you’ll need to digitise it using your scanner. Make sure the dpi (dots per…

https://calibre-ebook.com What you need: Windows Vista, 7, 8.1 or 10 Organise, sync, read and edit your ebooks using this magnificent open-source program. As well as sorting your library and converting dozens of formats into ebooks, it also lets you edit ebooks - and here’s where version 3.32 makes big improvements. The best new feature was actually a user’s idea (www.snipca.com/29309). Calibre’s editor lets you scroll through every image in a book, but previously the thumbnails were tiny. Now, you can zoom in for a closer look (see screenshot). You can also now set the editor to open automatically when you click a supported file, rather than the library window. Meanwhile the list of websites you can set to convert automatically (‘Fetch news’) has grown to include Private Eye, Reader’s Digest…

I know what you’re thinking. Why am I still using CCleaner after the recent Active Monitoring fiasco? (It was accused of collecting data under the guise of optimising your PC). Well, I still find it useful. I’m also satisfied that the problem was spotted early by users and that the developer, Piriform, reacted responsibly by removing this ‘feature’. Put it down as another great example of why you shouldn’t always apply software updates as soon as they’re offered (see also the latest Windows Update, page 60). I used to just let CCleaner go to work on my PCs as it saw fit. However, it can be a little too zealous at times, so I decided to tweak some of its settings so it works how I want. For instance, although…

What does it do? We’ve barely got used to 4K, a video resolution that’s equal to four 1080p Full HD TVs, and the next big thing is already here: 8K. Samsung’s new Q900R range of 8K LED TVs (pictured below), the first to hit the mass market, packs in four times as many pixels again, at 7680x4320. That’s 33 megapixels – more than most DSLRs can shoot, let alone video cameras. Why would I want it? Good question. It only makes sense on a huge screen. Samsung’s start at 65in, and you’d have to sit less than a metre (40in) away to detect any difference from 4K. 85in is a more sensible minimum. What’s the catch? Prices start at £4,999, a lot for an invisible upgrade. Although TV companies are…

What was it? In 2009, Twitter had suddenly become the third most popular social network (behind Facebook and MySpace). Its owners were still unsure what it was or where it was going. But what some thought it needed was its very own mobile device. Launched by the makers of the original Peek, which had been designed for email, this gadget featured a 2.5in colour screen, a Qwerty keyboard with 47 tiny buttons, and a side wheel for scrolling through tweets. Why did it die? The idea was that many people preferred to text with buttons, and maybe those without smartphones – still in the majority in 2009 – would pay $100 (then £65), plus contract, for a way to tweet. But it was less than a pleasure to use: just…

DOCUMENT CONVERTER Convert PDF to Word without disclosing personal info I have many PDFs that I tend to edit using Microsoft Word. In one of your previous issues (see Reader Support, Issue 537) your suggestion was to use a free online conversion service that converts PDFs to Word documents that you can then open using Word. The only drawback is that many of these free conversion services (including the suggested www.zamzar.com) require your email address so they can email the converted files to you. I don’t like giving out my email address to anyone other than my close family and friends, so I found an alternative way to convert files. I take a screenshot of an open PDF then use an OCR program to do the text conversion for me.…

iOS Record and edit voice notes In Issue 538’s Phone and Tablet Tips (see ‘Use Apple’s new password manager’), we showed you how to update your iPhone and iPad to iOS 12. The update adds the Voice Memos app to iPads for the first time, while the iPhone app introduces new editing features. Voice Memos lets you record, edit and share voice notes or audio recordings. Search for and open the app, tap the red record button at the bottom, then say whatever you want. You’ll see a button to pause and stop the recording at the bottom. To edit your recording, tap the square icon at the top right. You’ll now see a yellow outline on your timeline at the bottom. Tap and drag either end of the yellow…

WINDOWS 7, 8.1, 10 Add the Hibernate option to your power button Clicking the power button on your PC reveals three options - shut down, restart or sleep mode. The Hibernate option found in previous versions is no longer there by default. This setting was very handy for laptop users because it drains the battery less than sleep mode To add the Hibernate option, press the Windows key, type control panel, then click the top result. Next, click the ‘View by’ dropdown menu at the top right, select ‘Large icons’, then click Power Options. Click ‘Choose what the power button does’ at the top left’, then click ‘Change settings that are currently unavailable’. Finally, tick Hibernate in the ‘Shutdown settings’ section at the bottom (see screenshot below), then click ‘Save…

LibreOffice Writer has a basic ‘Find & Replace’ tool that lets you search your documents for specific text and replace it with something else. If you want more control over your searches, install the ‘Alternative Find & Replace for Writer’ extension. It adds some brilliant features, including the ability to calculate how many times you’ve used a particular word or phrase. To install it, go to www.snipca.com/29282, scroll down, click the ‘AltSearch.oxt’ link above All Releases, and save the file to your desktop. Open LibreOffice, click Tools at the top, Extension Manager, Add, navigate to your desktop, select the file you downloaded, click Open, close the Extension Manager window, then click Restart Now to restart LibreOffice with the extension added. Now open any document in LibreOffice Writer. You’ll notice the…

FREEWARE Software that’s free and has unrestricted functionality. Unlike open-source, its source code is not made public. DONATIONWARE Freeware that includes a request for a donation. The developer may suggest an amount, but if you choose not to donate the software will continue to work as normal. OPEN-SOURCE Software that makes its code available for anyone to inspect, modify and distribute. Usually free (though not always - see box on page 56). SHAREWARE Programs that are encouraged to be distributed freely, but with some form of limitation. ADWARE Programs funded by built-in adverts. The adverts can usually be removed if you pay a fee to upgrade. FREEMIUM Payment model that restricts software until you upgrade to the full version. In extreme cases, freemium programs are so heavily restricted that they…

The internet is awash with free software. And, as we explain here, many so-called free programs fail to deliver what they promise. So what can we do to encourage high-quality free software? We have to donate. Many free software developers make it quick and easy to donate via online payment systems such as PayPal. However, donating money is not the only way to help developers. Instead, why not donate your time? While open-source projects are always looking for coders to help improve their software, there are ways that non-coders can help. For example, you can participate in the software’s community forums. By suggesting features, highlighting bugs or simply offering your opinion, you’ll be helping the developers to improve their software. If there’s a new release you could offer to become…

NEW TOOLS Cut and paste from one PC to another You can now store multiple items in your clipboard and sync these across all your computers. To do this, go to Settings, System, then select Clipboard from the list on the left. Switch on ‘Clipboard history’ (see screenshot below) to store up to 25 items that you’ve cut (Ctrl+X) or copied (Ctrl+C) in your clipboard. You can still paste the last item using Ctrl+V, but pressing Windows+V brings up your new clipboard-history window. Annoyingly you can’t navigate the list using your keyboard, only your mouse. Switch on ‘Sync across devices’ (also see screenshot) in the Clipboard settings and your clipboard history will be shared across all your computers. You’ll need to be signed into your other PCs using the same…

Schedule PC backups while she sleeps As a computer owner, backing up is one of your most important jobs. You know that, I know that. But we also know it’s a pain. It gets in the way of more enjoyable things, like cleaning out the bath plughole or weeding the lawn. At least you see the benefit of a clean plughole and weeded lawn. A backed-up computer is just another clogged up external hard drive, gathering dust on the shelf. But then, of course, one day your internal hard drive gets corrupted, or you need to reinstall Windows, or (heaven forbid) your house is burgled, and those dusty backups are all you’ve got. So I do keep my photos backed up online on Google Photos, and my important documents are…

It’s now illegal for mobile, phone and broadband companies to charge you for ‘Caller ID’ services - which display the number of incoming calls – as Ofcom’s new consumer-protection rules come into effect. The regulator’s “strengthened” rules, implemented on 1 October, aim to protect people from nuisance calls, and make it easier to punish those responsible. They will be added to Ofcom’s General Conditions of Entitlement, which sets core standards for how companies should interact with customers. In addition, companies must now make sure that the numbers shown on Caller ID are valid – and allow you to call it back. They must also “take steps” to identify and block calls that come from invalid numbers (as many nuisance calls do), so they don’t reach people in the first place.…

NHS chiefs look set to reject its own proposals to boost cybersecurity because the £1bn bill is too expensive. A report published in February recommended a “minimum bar” for security that all health organisations must meet by June 2021. It was commissioned by the Government in response to the WannaCry ransomware attack in May 2017, which affected 81 NHS trusts, leading to thousands of cancelled operations, postponed appointments and diverted ambulances. The report’s author, NHS chief information officer Will Smart, wrote that the service must be “equipped to withstand and respond to cyber attacks in an effective manner which minimises disruption to services and impact on our patients”. His recommendations, estimated to cost between £800m and £1bn, were backed by the National Cyber Security Centre. But NHS Digital – which…

Firefox Focus Android: www.snipca.com/29300 iOS: www.snipca.com/29301 The aim of Firefox Focus is privacy (slogan: “browse like no one’s watching”). Released by Mozilla as an iPhone and iPad app 2015, followed by an Android version in June this year, the browser blocks all tracking. This stops marketing companies following your footsteps, thwarting them from pestering you with personalised adverts. It also makes web pages quicker to load. However, like many tools built for privacy, its stripped-back design means it lacks some of the more advanced functions you take for granted elsewhere. Mozilla has been filling these gaps with a series of updates – the latest adds search suggestions as you type in Android. Activate this feature by opening Settings, then tapping Search and switching on the ‘Get search suggestions’ slider (see…

I want to thank Computeractive for writing about the BBC’s new Music Memories website (https://musicmemories.bbcrewind.co.uk) in Issue 538 (News, page 9). Its aim is to reawaken the memories of people living with dementia, and I’m delighted to say it worked wonders with my sister, who has the condition. When we were growing up we used to listen to Housewives’ Choice on the radio (BBC Light Programme, I believe it was) with our much-missed mother. They were some of the happiest days of our lives. When I played her the theme tune on the site her eyes lit up, and I could tell that for a fleeting moment she was an eight-year-old girl again. She had similar reactions to songs by Nat King Cole, Jimmy Young and even Norman Wisdom! The…

With its value nudging toward the $1 trillion mark, Amazon won’t miss the £75 cashback it gave reader Terry McAllister. This came as a pleasant surprise to us, because Amazon wasn’t responsible for paying the money - Sony was. As we explained in Issue 538, Terry bought a Sony RX100MK3 camera from Amazon, having been attracted by Sony’s promise of a £75 cashback. When he had trouble claiming the money on Sony’s website, he emailed us. We think the problem arose because Terry misunderstood the error message that appeared when he tried to fill in Sony’s online cashback form. He was under the impression that he couldn’t submit a PDF of his invoice, nor a JPEG of the camera. But the site would have accepted these had their file name…

When establishing a family tree, should the wife be recorded by her maiden name or her married surname? I’m using Family Tree Maker. Terence Angell Typically, you should record a woman’s entry by her maiden name. This makes it easier to track down pre-marital records. Family Tree Maker lets you record more than one name, so you can add her married name to widen your searches, but make sure it’s her maiden name that’s marked as the default – or ‘preferred’ – surname. Do this by right-clicking the name when in ‘Person’ view and choosing ‘Set as Preferred’. Have a genealogy question for Nick? Email letters@computeractive.co.uk with ‘Grow Your Family Tree’ in the subject line.…

https://calibre-ebook.com What you need: Windows Vista, 7, 8.1 or 10 File Explorer isn’t a bad organising tool, but sometimes a file belongs in more than one folder - and that’s where tagging can help. New open-source program TagsToo lets you create a database organised using customisable tags of different shapes, wording and bright colours. The tags are easy to distinguish, even if you’re partially sighted, and everything is searchable using powerful filters. TagsToo doesn’t integrate automatically with Explorer or support drag and drop. Instead you have to import a data file, or create a database from scratch (click the ‘i’ for instructions). This takes patience but gives you plenty of control. You might get a Windows security alert when downloading, but the program is safe and junk-free.…

WARNING: JUNK AHEAD Junk offender: DVDVideoSoft Free YouTube Download I’ve made it my mission to help rid the world of junk, so I’m not about to fill up my hard drive with lots of online videos, when I can easily stream them instead. That said, I can see how a YouTube downloader might come in handy, particularly if your internet connection is unreliable, or you want to watch clips offline. Sidestepping the legal greyness of this whole area, what’s really depressing about YouTube downloaders is that most of them are rubbish (you’ll find an exception on page 52). And, if you’re really unlucky, you’ll end up with one like DVDVideoSoft Free YouTube Download (www.snipca.com/29369), which contaminates your PC with even more junk and continually spams you with messages. Search online…

Let’s deal with the name first. It’s capital X, small-capital S. But how do you write that using normal fonts? In Apple’s first press release, it was Xs (lower-case s). Within a day, that was corrected to XS (upper-case S). And in case you were wondering, it’s pronounced ‘S’. The X is still pronounced ‘ten’. In a New Zealand accent, by our reckoning, that makes this the iPhone Tennis. The rest of us will still think of it as the iPhone Excess. At £999, at least it’s no pricier than last year’s iPhone X (see our review, Issue 517), which, having been discontinued, is now the iPhone Ex. But then this is basically the same phone, with the tall 5.8in screen and the ‘notch’ at the top containing the front…

Q I like to keep the manuals for all the products we buy in PDF format, and over the years I’ve amassed hundreds on my PC – just over 10GB in total. The list gets bigger each time we buy a new gadget or appliance. Can you suggest a 10in tablet to store and view them? I don’t need a lot of extra features, just the ability to run Adobe Reader. Would Amazon’s Fire HD 10 (pictured) be suitable? Martin Johnson A A 10in tablet is a great idea for viewing manuals – not quite as big as A4, but enough to read almost any document comfortably, and easier than a PC to juggle while programming a microwave. The Fire HD 10 (£150 from Amazon www.snipca.com/29338, plus £10 to remove…

LAPTOP NEW ENTRY HP Envy 13 £849 from www.snipca.com/29285 Tested Issue 539 The combination of an eighth-generation quad-core i5 chip and MX 150 graphics makes this an excellent all-round laptop, let down only by the poor colour reproduction of its Full HD touchscreen. Seven-hour battery life is adequate, and it’s nicely made. ALTERNATIVE Dell XPS 13 This premium laptop starts at £1,200, but the best deal is with the brand new quad-core i7-8550 and QHD touchscreen. £1,349 from www.snipca.com/26796 ANDROID TABLET Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 9.7 £470 from www.snipca.com/27058 Tested Issue 501 Samsung’s new mid-sized tablet has a wonderful HDR screen and comes with a pen, unlike Apple’s iPad Pro. But its processor isn’t the fastest and it’s disappointingly expensive, especially compared to the £319 iPad 9.7in. ALTERNATIVE Asus ZenPad…

I’m pleased to say that this is one technology I’ve never needed to use… yet! With any luck neither will you. However, a recovery drive is just like a health or household insurance policy: it’s something you should invest in so that if disaster strikes you’ll be prepared. It’s important to always know where your recovery drive is, so don’t throw it in the back of a drawer. I buy USB sticks with a keyring loop at one end, like the SanDisk Ultra USB Flash Drive (£10.34 for 32GB from Amazon www.snipca.com/29230). You can hang these from a hook stuck to the side of your monitor or PC (don’t cover any vents or place it near anything hot). If you use a laptop, fix a cup hook to a nearby…

What you need: Wireless Network Watcher; Any Windows version (XP to 10) Time required: 20 minutes If you notice that your home Wi-Fi network has become slow, it could be because neighbours or others are using it. Wireless Network Watcher is a free program by NirSoft that lists all the devices connected to your network. It also lets you set up an audio alert whenever any new devices connect so you can detect any illegitimate usage. STEP 1 To install the program, go to www.snipca.com/29296 and scroll down the page. You’ll see two links that download a ZIP file 1 or a standard file 2 (with full support and desktop shortcut). Select the one you want (we chose the latter), open the downloaded setup file 3, click Yes, keep clicking…

Google Podcasts After hearing about podcasts, I downloaded the first free app I came across - Google Podcasts. For starters, I found its interface incredibly cluttered. You see titles of episodes you’ve subscribed to, but also various podcast categories, which mostly feature American content I’ve never heard of. Also, the app doesn’t inform you when new episodes of your favourite shows become available and you can’t change the default buttons to fast-forward and rewind. And what I use instead… I switched to Pocket Casts, which costs £3.99 (www.pocketcasts.com). It neatly lists all your podcasts as tiles that you can sort in a variety of ways. Unlike Google’s app, you can watch podcast videos (see screenshot) and download them to watch offline; choose to save episodes to your phone or memory…

Focus Free iOS www.snipca.com/29400 Focus is a reading app that works with websites, documents, PDFs and ebooks and claims to double or triple your reading speed. The app displays text on a single line (like a news ticker), focusing on one word at a time, so you don’t have to move your eyes. You can change the speed using the slider at the bottom. Voice Access Free Android www.snipca.com/29399 This new app from Google helps people with mobility impairments (such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis) to control their phone or tablet by speaking simple commands. It lets you open and close apps, and even write and reply to emails and messages by narrating them. FilmLab, for Analog Film £5.99 iOS www.snipca.com/29401 It’s worth buying FilmLab if you have old…

Dark mode has become very popular with night owls in recent years because it helps reduce eye strain when using your devices in low light. Microsoft’s Edge browser now has a Dark Mode for its toolbar and settings panel, but this doesn’t work with websites. To use dark mode on any website you view, you need to download the new Edge extension Night Eye. To do this, click the three dots at the top right of the Edge window, then click Extensions at the bottom. Scroll down to the bottom of the section listing your extensions, then click ‘Explore more extensions’. On the Microsoft Store Extensions page that opens, search for night eye, open the top search result, then click the Get button at the top right and wait for…

Check your newsletters are being read So you’ve designed the perfect newsletter, crafted a compelling call to action for people to respond, then emailed it to everyone in your mailing list. Days go by, but you’ve only heard back from a few of your members. Don't despair – it's a common frustration when running a club or society. The simple fact is that your members – like most people today – will be inundated by emails from all kinds of sources that it’s easy to overlook an important one or simply forget to reply. No matter which email service you use, there’s usually a way to find out whether your newsletters or emails are being read by your target audience. We’ll first show you how to use a feature called…

With polished websites, a glut of positive reviews and promises to resolve all your PC problems, it’s no wonder free software is so darn tempting. You download it to your hard drive and maybe even make it your default program for a particular file type or task. But just when you need it the most, the software suddenly demands payment for the simplest of tasks. In some instances, you’ll only realise just how ‘unfree’ the software is after you’ve spent several hours downloading, installing and getting used to it. We’d prefer developers were more transparent, but this is unlikely to happen any time soon. Instead they promise their software will answer all your prayers, while hoping that having invested all that time, you’ll simply pay for those ‘advanced’ features you…

As is often stated, open-source software is ‘free’ in the sense of ‘free speech’, not ‘free beer’. Most open-source software is distributed under what’s known as a GNU General Public Licence, which allows anyone to download, modify and distribute its source code. The licence doesn’t stop anyone charging for the software when distributing it. However, if you do choose to modify and distribute it under a different brand name, you must make it clear that it’s already licensed as open-source software and that the source code is available for download. Profiting from the hard work of other developers by reselling open-source software could be seen as unethical, but there’s nothing to stop it. For example, Blender (open-source 3D graphics software - see page 57) has been sold commercially under several…

NOTEPAD ‘Search with Bing’ option added to right-click menu when highlighting text. BLUETOOTH Battery levels displayed for all connected Bluetooth devices. DARK MODE Make File Explorer easier on the eye – go to Settings, Personalisation, Colours, then set ‘Default app mode’ to Dark. SWIFTKEY Use swiping gestures to ‘type’ on touchscreen PCs. DATA USAGE If you’re on a mobile broadband connection, you’ll now see how much data you’ve used (go to Settings, Network & Internet, WiFi). STORAGE SENSE Windows can now remove unused files from your computer that are backed up in OneDrive, freeing up space (go to Settings, System, Storage, ‘Change how we free up…’, OneDrive).…

Always keen to ignore my own advice, I decided to install the October Update as soon as possible. Here’s my update diary. 10:05: Having previously had Windows display a message saying the October Update was ready to install, I check my files are backed up one last time, click the Power button, take a deep breath, then click ‘Update and Restart’. 10:07: Curiously, no update message is displayed and Windows restarts in under two minutes. Quickest Feature update ever? Nope - I’m still on version1803 (April 2018 Update). I repeatedly try restarting and checking for updates, but to no avail. Looks like 1803 doesn’t want to be replaced. 10:45: I resort to using the Windows Update Assistant (www.snipca.com/29344), which finally kicks the update into action. I start my stopwatch. 11:20:…